Did You Love Me?
by readbetweenthesigns
Summary: How things could have worked out differently, the final part of Season 1 from an alternative perspective. Rating change to T to take into account relationship.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: The use of original Glee scenes is deliberate, they don't belong to me, I only claim ownership of the bits that are different.**

**A/N: I wonder how they would have coped if it had happened this way….**

"Did you love me?" Quinn asked, dreading the answer. "Please don't say I was just another hook up," she begged silently, her eyes squeezed tight shut, her head down.

"Yes," Puck replied quietly with a nod. "Especially now," he glanced at the tired looking girl at his side who looked up at him and smiled shyly. They shared a tiny, snorted laugh, both of them embarrassed by the question and the answer. "She looks like you," he murmured before steeling himself to ask one last time. "Do you want to keep her?" he asked, resigned to the fact that Quinn wanted to give their amazing creation up for adoption but he had to give it one last try. They both took another look through the window into the nursery at their beautiful daughter.

"Yes," Quinn replied, shocking the hell out of Puck. "Do you? My mom said she'll turn the guest room into a nursery and that you're welcome to come and help out, maybe stay over sometimes if your mom doesn't need you to baby sit your sister." Puck stared back at Quinn in stunned surprise. He hadn't been expecting that. At all.

"Which one is yours?" Shelby Corcoran, the coach of Vocal Adrenaline, asked as she appeared at the other side of Quinn before Puck could formulate an answer. "Oh, I see her now. She looks like you. Does she have a name?" she said with a beaming smile.

"Beth," Quinn and Puck replied at the same time. "Beth Puckerman," Quinn told Shelby. "We've changed our minds, we're keeping her."

"Oh," nodded Shelby, disappointment evident in her voice and body language.

"Sorry if you were hoping for a different answer," Puck shrugged, taking Quinn's trembling hand in his, "but she belongs with us, she's our daughter."

"Yes, no, I understand," Shelby said, nodding again, blinking back the tears. "Congratulations and good luck," she smiled at them sadly, taking one last longing look at Beth before leaving them to gaze lovingly at their tiny sleeping baby.

Back in Quinn's room they sat side by side on her bed. "Wow," Puck breathed out a nervous laugh. "We're really going to do this?" he asked. "You're sure?"

"Yes I'm sure," Quinn replied softly, looking at Puck, feeling more than a little nervous. "Now is the time to tell me if you don't want to be involved. I'm still going to do this, even if I'm on my own."

"I want to do this," Puck replied quickly, nodding. "I'm ready to do this. We're ready." Puck lifted Quinn's hand again, their fingers interlocking. "Thank you," his voice was quiet but full of unspoken emotion.

Judy Fabray came back into the room after making a number of calls to family and friends, proudly telling them she was now a grandmother. "So, have you made a decision?" she asked, looking pointedly at Puck.

"Yes, we have," Quinn replied. "We're doing this together. And her name is Beth Puckerman, not Fabray, not Fabray-Puckerman, just Puckerman." Judy smiled tightly acknowledging their decision.

A nurse knocked on the door and came into the room pushing the clear crib holding Beth Puckerman in front of her. "It's time for baby to eat," she said smiling. "Who's going to do the honours?" she glanced around at the three people in the room.

Puck walked over to her and picked Beth up from the crib, his movements sure, secure. "Can daddy give you your first bottle?" he asked Beth as she blinked at him with unfocused eyes. He sat in the chair at the side of the bed and hugged Beth close, feeding her with the ready made bottle of formula the nurse handed to him. "See, big daddy knows what you like," he murmured to Beth as Quinn and her mom looked on, smiling, Judy's arm round Quinn's waist, their heads together.

The nurse left with instructions to call on her if they needed her for anything.

"Quinn told you that you can come and help out, right?" Judy asked Puck.

"Thank you Mrs Fabray," Puck looked up smiling. "I appreciate that."

There was another knock at the door. Judy went to answer it and found a dark haired woman and child waiting nervously outside the room. "Is this Quinn Fabray's room?" the woman asked.

"Yes it is," Judy replied opening the door wider for them to enter. "You must be Mrs Puckerman," she smiled at them then turned to the little girl. "And what's your name honey?"

"Mom, meet Miriam and Leah Puckerman," Quinn held out a hand to introduce the newcomers. "Miriam, my mom, Judy Fabray."

"Hello," nodded Mrs Puckerman, her mannerisms nervous. "Oh, Noah, she's beautiful," she croaked, her voice breaking as she took a good look at her granddaughter. "Are you sure you should be feeding her? Getting attached? Won't it be harder to give her up if you spend time with her now?" she asked, not able to take her eyes off of the baby.

"Mom, we're not giving her up," Puck replied, smiling at Beth. "Come and meet your niece Leah, she's cute, isn't she?"

"I'm really an aunty?" Leah asked. "How? I'm only seven," she screwed her nose up trying to figure it out, looking between Quinn and her brother. "You look like there's still a baby in your stomach," she told Quinn.

"Leah," Miriam sounded scandalised that her daughter would be so rude. "Quinn, I'm so sorry," she apologised. "Apologise to Quinn, Leah," Miriam instructed. Leah did so, reluctantly, pouting, frowning. She didn't know why she had to apologise for telling the truth.

Quinn looked down at what she'd felt was an incredibly flat stomach after months of it sticking out a mile in front of her only to realise she had a lot of hard work ahead of her. She looked over at Puck who was trying to hide a smile. "You're not fat," he said with a sly grin.

"Don't start all that again Puckerman," Quinn said with a roll of her eyes. "That's what got us into this mess in the first place."

"Nah," Puck said as his grin grew. "That was the wine coolers." He put the bottle down and sat Beth up on his knee, supporting her, leaning her forward a little to pat her back. "Don't go spitting up on me," he advised the baby, "you have to save that for mommy," he bent closer to her head to whisper loudly to her, "and all the really yacky diapers."

"What happened to equality?" Quinn asked, bending over the two of them, stroking Beth's soft blond hair. "You can spit up on daddy too," she smiled at her daughter.

"Quinnie," Judy spoke quietly, "will you be alright for a while? I'm going to have to go shopping, there are a lot of things we're going to need straight away. You're coming home tomorrow, yes?"

"Yes, the doctor said we'd probably be able to go home tomorrow," Quinn agreed. "Will you need Puck to baby sit tomorrow night?" she asked Miriam. "I think we should both be there for her first night at home.

Miriam gave Quinn a tight smile. "Well, really I do…but I'm sure Aunt Freda would come over," she looked at Puck, saw the hope on his face.

"What if Leah was to come and stay too?" Judy offered. "The guest room is still the guest room just now and I'm sure Beth will be in your room for the moment Quinn. You won't object to sharing with Quinn for the time being, will you Noah?"

"Mom," Quinn almost shrieked at the same time as Puck shook his head, a half smile forming on his face. Share a room with Quinn again? Not a problem. Absolutely. Hell yeah. "We're not together," Quinn informed Judy, reminded Puck.

Puck shrugged. "But we could be," he said as he rubbed Beth's back. "Oh, good job," he smiled at her as she burped daintily.

"How do you know to do all that?" Quinn asked, sounding like a petulant child, wanting to kick his ankles.

"I read the baby books," Puck admitted. "And I have a little sister."

"You read the baby books?" Quinn asked, touched. "Aww, you read the baby books," she couldn't stop the surge of emotion and tears filling her eyes. Damn hormones.

"Maybe we can get her some stuff for at my house?" Puck asked Quinn and looked to his mom for approval. "Then on the nights I have to be at home for Leah, you and Beth can come and stay with me," his eyes went to both moms, trying to gauge their reaction. "It's another option," he shrugged.

"It's a good idea," Quinn agreed, nodding. "Would that be alright with you, mom?"

Judy felt she had no choice but to agree. Quinn had been reliant on this family for months, spent all of her time with them until the last few weeks and she herself had only reappeared in Quinn's life four short hours ago. "Yes of course, Quinnie," Judy's stilted reply sounded forced to everyone's ears. "If you think that's best."

"I do," Quinn said quietly, her eyes locked with Puck's, seeing something in them that made her feel warm and loved inside.

A brief knock before the door opened admitting the doctor had Quinn tearing her eyes away from his. "Ms Fabray, Mr Puckerman," the doctor smiled, "I'm glad you're both here. Would we be able to have a quick chat about the baby?" he asked.

Quinn and Puck looked at each other, slightly alarmed. Were they going to be told they couldn't keep her? They hadn't signed anything or told the nursing staff that they'd considered giving her up. "Sure," Quinn choked out nervously.

The doctor looked pointedly at the visitors to the room. "May we have a few moments, please?" he asked, indicating the door with the hand that held a manila file.

"Of course doctor," Judy responded politely, picking up her bag. Miriam and Leah followed her through the door, closing it gently behind them.

"Is something wrong doctor?" Puck asked, not quite able to keep his voice steady.

"When we conducted the APGAR test the baby checked out fine at one minute and the same at five minutes," the doctor smiled at Quinn and Puck. "Our concern is that your daughter doesn't startle at loud sounds. This could be for any number of reasons, from fluid behind the ear drum to having small passageways that still need to grow a little."

"But it could mean that she's deaf, right?" Puck asked. He looked at the baby still held in his lap and smiled at her, kissing her forehead. "How soon will we know for sure? Can anything be done to help her if she is deaf? Would she need surgery or something?" Puck fired questions at the doctor before Quinn could even get her head round what the doctor was telling them.

"Actually, I think our moms need to be in here for this," Quinn said quietly. "We all need to know what's happening and how best we can help Beth."

The doctor nodded and went to open the door, inviting Judy, Miriam and Leah back into the room. Judy looked frightened to death, Miriam was rubbing her hands together, swallowing nervously, Leah was fidgeting as usual.

"Is something wrong?" Judy asked, looking from one to the other, seeing the distress on Quinn's face.

"The doctor thinks Beth has a problem with her hearing," Puck told both parents. "Nothing is certain yet, right doc?" he asked, looking at the doctor to confirm what he'd said before.

"That's right," the doctor took over. "We are slightly concerned because Beth doesn't show any response to audible stimuli. It isn't that uncommon for newborns to be unresponsive to quiet, low sounds but generally they will react to loud sounds. So far Beth hasn't."

"How soon will we know?" Judy asked, a look of distaste on her face as she glanced at her granddaughter. Quinn saw the look.

"You can leave any time you want," she told her mother in a hard voice. "Miriam, is the offer of a home with you still open?" she asked.

"Yes of course," Miriam told Quinn without a second of hesitation. "As long as you want, you'll always be welcome Quinn. You and Beth," she smiled.

"Thank you for coming here today mother," Quinn said, drawing herself up straight. "We'll manage from here on, you can go now," she turned away, she didn't want to see the disappointment in Judy Fabray's eyes for a second time. Quinn knew her mother couldn't deal with anything less than perfection. She would never accept a granddaughter with any sort of disability. Quinn heard slow footsteps, the clicking of her mother's high heels then the door opening and closing. She couldn't hold in the sob that bubbled up and escaped.

Puck stood and handed the baby to his own mother. He gathered Quinn into his arms and let her cry it out against his chest. He couldn't believe one woman could be so cruel. First off disowning her daughter because she got pregnant, now detaching herself from her granddaughter because she _might _have a slight difficulty.

"We'll be ok," Puck murmured against her hair. "You still have us, right mom?" he glanced at his mother, hopeful.

"Of course you do," Miriam agreed. "But you still can't have bacon in the house," she joked. Quinn gave a sobbing laugh, Puck grinned down at Quinn. Leah gave a big shout of laughter right beside Beth's head. Beth didn't flinch.

Miriam and Leah left after the doctor had explained some of the test that would be conducted in the coming weeks. "I'll have to stop off somewhere, we'll need a crib, diapers, stuff. Oh, I think maybe your Aunt Freda will still have Joshua's crib in the attic, I'll call her and ask before I buy anything. Will that be ok with you?" she asked before they left.

"It's fine with me," Quinn smiled shakily. She'd have to check her bank account to see how she could manage, see how much she had left of her monthly allowance her parents had continued to pay into her bank for her, despite cutting her out of their lives months ago.

Once it was just the three of them Quinn laid down on her bed. "What will we do if she is deaf?" she asked Puck quietly. He was standing over the crib stroking his hand gently over Beth's fuzzy blond hair as she slept.

"We won't have to worry about Leah waking her up when she plays her trumpet at six o'clock in the morning," he replied, smiling over at Quinn.

"That's true," Quinn couldn't help but smile. Leah did like playing the trumpet. She didn't do it very well but she loved practicing it. Loudly. "I'm sorry my mother reacted like she did," Quinn felt she had to apologise for Judy Fabray's behaviour. "I guess she just doesn't like things that aren't perfect."

"Beth is perfect," Puck replied as he came to sit next to Quinn on the bed. "Even if she can't hear doesn't mean she's not perfect. It just means she's special."

"We can do this," Quinn looked up, needing reassurance, "can't we?" she asked.

"Of course we can," Puck's voice was confident, firm. "And I'm sure we'll get a lot of help from all of Glee club," he really hoped that would be the case. He wasn't sure how Santana was going to feel about Quinn living with him again but he hoped she'd understand, his family had to come first.

Quinn must have read his mind. "What about Santana?" she asked. "I mean, I don't know if you're together now or if you just hook up, but I'd prefer you not to do that around Beth."

"It'll be cool," Puck shrugged. "We're not together, we just scratch an itch when we need to. We could always get back together, if you want," he offered, indicating the two of them, not entirely disliking the idea. Totally loving the idea if he was being honest.

"Let's not rush into anything," Quinn said tiredly. "Let's just concentrate on being parents and see how we go. Ok?"

"Ok," Puck started to lean towards her, out of habit. "I am going to kiss you though," he warned. "And if we're sharing a room I can't promise that I won't try to get it on with you, just so you know."

"I wouldn't expect anything less," Quinn grinned back at him just before his lips touched hers in a gentle, friendly kiss. "And just so _you_ know, I don't intend to be a burden on you. I'll have to find a job, try to fit something in between school and caring for Beth."

"Hey," Puck sat upright again. "Don't worry about stuff like that just now, let's just concentrate on Beth and getting you out of here. Ok?" he rubbed her cold hands as he smiled at her.

"Ok," Quinn agreed, feeling calm, settled. "I'm glad you're staying here with me tonight," she said shyly.

"Me too," Puck said softly as Quinn's eyes closed. "Me too."

**A/N: I was born hearing but now use hearing aids to hear. My youngest son was born Deaf. He had a procedure done when he was 7 months old and now has 70% hearing, he currently doesn't have to use hearing aids but more than likely will as he gets older.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: There is no claim to ownership of any of the character names from Glee, there the similarity ends. This is totally AU.**

**A/N: A little peek into the world of Quick from an angle that was never explored by Fox.**

"That's the best excuse I've ever heard," Santana scoffed, meaning that it was the exact opposite. "I'll have to remember that one. Not that I'm ever likely to use it, I won't be stupid enough to get knocked up, but good work Puckerman. How long did it take you to come up with that one?"

"It's not an excuse," Puck insisted. "Accept it or don't, I don't care. Quinn is living here with me and my family, we've decided not to give Beth up, we're parenting together, that's it."

"So what happened to Judy?" Santana asked, annoyance still surrounding her, vibrating from her. "She seemed pretty keen to take over on Saturday. Did it come out a lizard baby or something? Was it too scary to look at?"

"My daughter is not a lizard baby," Puck ground out. "Don't insult her again. And I'm not joking with that. Don't ever insult my daughter again," he repeated, fiercely.

"Chill out, daddy," sneered Santana. She looked up at a noise at the top of the stairs. "So you really are here. Nice move Q. Slick. What was it? Your mother couldn't stand the sound of your stretch marks rubbing together? Is that why she threw you out again? Can't say I blame her," she was cut off by Puck dragging her roughly by the arm, spinning her round.

"Have you done?" he asked. "I think you should go. Now. And no, I'm not available for you, find someone else to scratch your itch, I'm done with you," he said before he stepped back to let Santana pass.

As soon as Santana slammed out of the house Quinn came downstairs. "Did she wake up again?" Puck asked, moving round to the back of Quinn to see Beth's face peeking over her shoulder. "Are you hungry, baby?" he asked.

"Why do you do that?" Quinn asked sounding tired, upset, angry. "She can't hear you."

"Because she can see my face, so she can get used to seeing lips moving," Puck said, still talking to the baby. "And I've been researching on the internet. Just because she isn't hearing us doesn't mean we should ignore the usual things that people do with babies, I mean, maybe she'll pick up lip reading or whatever. If we've always been used to looking at her when we're talking it'll just be natural, we won't have to think about it and she won't miss out on stuff."

"Oh," Quinn nodded. It made sense, she supposed.

"And I've found that Rhodes State College teaches Sign Language, we should see if they do a class for non-students," Puck said as he lifted Beth's tiny hand to kiss her fingers. "If we start learning it now and use it all the time when we're talking to her, with her, with each other even while we're learning, it becomes normal, natural language, same as just talking does with a hearing baby."

"Google?" Quinn asked, resigned to the fact that she was going to be inundated with information from Puck, he had that look in his eyes. Determination. "Look, I'm really tired, can you just find out what we need to do, who we need to speak to then bombard me with information later when my brain's not fried?"

"Sure," Puck agreed with a smile. "Do you want me to get her bottle ready?" he asked, already heading towards the kitchen.

Quinn nodded as she sat down on the sofa, sighing, yawning, feeling exhausted. "Yes please," she murmured even though he'd already gone to do it. She laid Beth across her lap. Beth started to cry as soon as Quinn sat down. "Why do you keep crying as soon as I sit down? You stop when I'm walking about but when I sit down, you cry," she asked the baby, staring into her face. Not that the baby was looking back at her, she wasn't. Beth's eyes were screwed up, her hands were shivering little fists at the side of her head, her tiny little feet were pedaling furiously and her jaw trembling with each lusty 'wah' yell. "I'm not cut out for this," Quinn wailed as she started to cry along with Beth.

"Oh God," Puck sighed as he came back into the room carrying Beth's bottle of formula. "Two crying females. One, I can cope with, two, I'm screwed," he said out loud to himself, shaking his head.

"Shut up Puckerman," sobbed Quinn. "I don't know why I'm crying, I just can't help it," her voice rose on a wail.

"Here let me feed her, you go back to bed and get some sleep," Puck offered lifting Beth from Quinn's lap and sitting down with her. He handed Quinn the bottle before he stripped Beth down to her diaper, she stopped crying as soon as she was cuddled up to Puck's bare chest. That made Quinn cry even harder. Puck took the bottle back and started to feed the now silent baby.

"She hates me," Quinn sobbed, falling sideways away from Puck to bury her face in the cushions. "She knows I didn't want to keep her, she knows it's my fault she's deaf. She loves you and she hates me."

Puck looked upwards, seeking advice and inspiration from a God who didn't seem too forthcoming with answers. "Why me? What did I do to deserve this?" he mouthed silently, then he sighed. "Quinn, you need to chill out. She _doesn't_ hate you, she probably just likes skin-to-skin contact. Most babies do. It said that in the baby books, didn't you read them?" he asked.

"No-o," Quinn wailed, "why would I read them? I was giving her up for adoption," she let out another pitiful sound. "I'm a bad mother, she knows I didn't read the baby books, _that's_ why she hates me," Quinn's tears and self-pitying seemed endless.

Puck was torn, should he disturb Beth from her bottle to comfort Quinn? Would that make Beth cry again? Probably. Would Quinn blame herself for that too? Probably. "Quinn," Puck tried to get her attention. "Hey, waterworks. I'm about to drown here," Puck called. Quinn stopped crying abruptly and turned her tear stained face towards him. Puck propped Bath's bottle up holding it with his chin against his chest and held out his arm for Quinn to cuddle up. "You hold her bottle, I'll hold both of you, ok?" he said, his voice distorted.

Quinn leaned against him, rubbing her cheek on his chest as his arm wrapped around her shoulders. Quinn held the bottle for Beth to drink from and gazed at her baby. She sniffed a little. "It is nice, I see why Beth likes it so much," she said quietly.

"Likes what?" Puck asked quietly, his eyes on Beth's face.

"Your chest. Being held against it. Just skin," Quinn shrugged, still sniffing and occasionally shuddering. "It's nice. I like it."

Puck pulled a face over the top of Quinn's head. He hoped the irrational, hormonal crying jags would fade away fairly soon. The baby books didn't give any specifics on that. Both he and Quinn turned to look as the front door opened.

"Hi," Leah called as she skipped in the house in front of Miriam. "She's eating? Again?" she asked incredulously. "All she does is eat, sleep, poop and cry. She's no fun yet," Leah frowned.

"What do you want her to do?" Puck asked. "Turn cartwheels? She's five days old Leah, give her a chance."

Leah turned and pulled her tongue out at Puck before scurrying off to the kitchen.

"Did you get much sleep?" Miriam asked Quinn, seeing the tear tracks on her face, the bags under her eyes.

"Not really," Quinn replied. "I dropped off after Beth went back to sleep this morning. Then Santana came over and her shouting woke me up, then Beth woke up and wanted her diaper changed and another bottle."

"And what did Santana want?" Miriam asked her son, her voice a little less friendly.

"How to put this without making me sound like dad….hmmmm," Puck pondered out loud. "Me. She wanted me because she had an itch she wanted me to scratch."

"God, Noah," Miriam almost growled in exasperation. "Have you learned nothing?" she asked, pointing at Beth.

"I didn't say I took her up on it," Puck cried, defending himself. "I told her no and that I'm done with her," he looked to Quinn. "And I know we're not 'together' together, but I'm totally done with her. For good. Ok? It's just us, a family. Alright?" he asked.

"Thank you," Quinn sighed. She didn't like the idea of Santana being around her baby and if she was still getting naked with Puck that would be something that was bound to happen sooner or later. "But don't go getting any ideas either. _We're_ not going to be together. We're just friends who're raising their baby together. Ok?"

"I know," Puck said as he rolled his eyes. "You keep telling me that," he grinned down at Quinn's serious expression. "But hey, we share a room after all, and a bed. You might find that you can't control yourself when I'm asleep and defenseless."

"Keep dreaming Puckerman," Quinn almost managed a laugh. "I think I might go shower and get dressed, if that's ok with you," she looked to Puck for him to agree. "Maybe make myself feel a little more human."

Puck took over holding the bottle for Beth as Quinn stood up. He waited till she was out of earshot before asking his mom if the mood swings would ever stop because he seriously thought that the house was going to collapse from wet rot with all the tears that were being shed just now.

"Noah, have a little compassion, please," Miriam said tiredly. "Quinn's been through a lot of emotional trauma over the last few months. She's lost her family, twice, her friends don't seem to be around, she has no one she can relate to and then your skanky booty call turns up whenever she feels like it. Can you blame her for feeling emotional?"

"Not when you put it like that," Puck replied, feeling a bit ashamed of himself. He wondered if Mercedes would find time to drop by and spend time with Quinn, if he asked her to. He'd need to get her number. Maybe Quinn had it on her phone. He'd check.

Puck finished feeding Beth and patted her back till she burped then sat on the sofa with her in his arms just watching her sleep. He was about to lay Beth in her crib when someone knocked at the door. He went to answer it carrying Beth with him. "Hi," he said in surprise. Half of Glee club stood on the doorstep looking expectantly at him. "What are you all doing here?" he asked.

"We came to visit," Rachel replied, reaching out to stroke her finger down Beth's soft arm. "And to meet this gorgeous creature properly. Can we come in? We brought gifts," she added as an enticement.

Puck opened the door wider. "Come on in," he invited. He turned to see Quinn at the top of the stairs, dressed but with a towel wrapped round her wet hair. "See who's come to visit?" he called up to her.

"I'll be down in a minute," she replied. "Is Beth asleep now?" she asked.

Puck looked down at the baby in his arms. "Yep," he said. "Fast on." Puck closed the door and followed his friends into the living room. "So you've all come to meet Miss Bethany Quinn Puckerman, right?" he asked.

"We have," Tina grinned. "That is way too big a name for a tiny girl like that. Can I hold her?" she asked.

"Sure, here you go," Puck placed the sleeping baby gently into Tina's arms. "Watch her head," he advised.

"I've baby sat like a million kids," Tina told Puck laughing, "I know to watch their heads."

"I wouldn't take offence at that Tina," Quinn said as she came into the room. "He tells me that too every time I pick her up," she leaned over and checked her daughter. "And is she not getting dressed again today?" she turned and asked Puck. "Are you going to actually put some real clothes on today too?" she looked him up and down in his shorts riding low on his hips, bare foot and shirtless.

"Don't try to hide it Fabray," Puck teased, "you're just using that as an excuse to check me out. Right on, I'm up for it," he winked at her, giving her his little half smile, the one that usually had girls panting after him.

"Don't hold your breath," Quinn replied quickly. "That might happen sometime after hell goes through its second ice age," then she couldn't hold the grin, "if you're lucky."

"You better stop snuggling up to me when you're asleep then," Puck shot back at her with a grin, "there's only so many times a guy can be noble and right now you're pushing my limits. Next time you turn over and throw your leg over me, I might see it as an invitation. I'm just saying. Fair warning," he held up his hands, looking away from her to hide the smile.

"You do remember you have guests here, don't you?" asked Rachel, embarrassed on Quinn's behalf.

Miriam came through to the living room and offered drinks to everyone. "Can you give me a hand Noah, please?" she asked, her tone letting Puck know she didn't expect a negative reply.

In the kitchen, Miriam spoke quietly to her son. "I heard what you just said to Quinn," she told him. "Leave her be. You know that she still has to recover and she may not want to get into that with you anyway even when she's able to. Accept it. You're not in a relationship with her, she doesn't want to be. But don't dare go bringing any other girls here, especially to a bedroom you share with your child's mother," she looked sternly at Puck. "And your Aunt Freda said your dad wants to stop by to visit with you and meet the baby. Is that ok?" she asked.

"Sure, he can visit," Puck shrugged. "He knows where we live."

Puck and Miriam turned together towards the living room and the sound of Leah entertaining Glee club with her trumpet playing. As they entered the room, Puck carrying a tray of soft drinks, he saw the looks on his friends' faces. They'd all immediately looked at the baby and noted that she didn't stir even through the loudest of the off-key blasts. Finn looked at Puck, slightly puzzled.

"Beth has some hearing issues," Puck announced. "We're starting tests next week to find out exactly what, if it's something that can be resolved or if it's a permanent thing."

Quinn took over. "We're planning on learning Sign Language, just in case it is permanent," she swallowed hard before asking, "would any of you like to join us? Maybe learn some too?"

"Just let us know where and when," Finn nodded, seeing the relief on Puck's face. "I've got to be able to talk to Drizzle when she's bigger, otherwise how would she know about her real name?" he finished with a huge, cheesy grin.

The visit went well. There were a few tense moments when Rachel asked if Brittany and Santana had visited yet. Quinn replied that Santana had, all the while glaring at Puck, her lips set in a hard line.

"Don't blame me," Puck held his hands up and shook his head. "I didn't invite her, she just turned up."

"And we both know why," Quinn said quietly as she stood to answer yet another knock at the door. Just before she opened it, she turned to Puck. "I lived here for months before and I don't think there were this many visitors in that whole time," she sounded just a little surprised. Her voice, when she saw who was stood on the doorstep was overloaded with surprise. "What are _you_ doing here?" she asked Judy Fabray. "I thought you'd disappeared out of my life for good on Saturday. Nothing's changed mother. Beth still can't hear anything," she ended, her voice completely without emotion, just hard, unforgiving.

"I came to see you," Judy almost whispered. "Both of you," she indicated both Quinn and Puck who was stood close enough behind Quinn to see Judy and hear what she had to say.

"It's probably time we were going," Kurt said, breathlessly, nervously. "Can we come by and visit again?" he asked with a parting look at Beth.

"Sure," Quinn nodded, smiling. "You're all welcome, anytime. Bye," she called as they walked down the path towards the street. Then she looked at her mother again, still stood on the doorstep and the smile evaporated.

"May I come in?" Judy asked quietly, nervously. Quinn didn't answer but stepped back to allow Judy to enter. "Thank you," Judy said, nodding.

"Why are you here?" Quinn asked again, not offering her mother either a seat or refreshment. "Your face said everything last week when you couldn't even look at your granddaughter without looking like you'd sucked on a lemon," Quinn's voice was getting higher, louder.

Judy couldn't help but glance at Beth laid sleeping in her crib. Even her mommy's loud voice hadn't disturbed her. Judy felt the sinking feeling of disappointment again, she'd really hoped things had changed because without _that_ issue, Beth would be perfect. Quinn had let her down, and in some ways so had her older daughter, her granddaughter would have been another chance at raising perfection, maybe getting it right this time.

"Your father and I have decided to continue to support you financially until you finish your education, whether you decide to go to college or not," Judy began, her tone formal, stilted. "We will take responsibility for all of your medical costs, both you and…." she couldn't say Beth's name, she just waved a hand in the direction of the crib, "and your living expenses. Money will be paid into your bank account on the first of the month. If there are any unexpected issues, anything that comes up that you need help with, just let us know and we'll sort that out."

"That's it?" Quinn asked her disbelief audible. "Here's some money, don't darken my door again, is that it?" she asked. "Don't get me wrong, I'll use the money, but, God, mother, you are one cold, heartless bitch. I hope to God I don't turn out like you. You need to leave now. Goodbye," Quinn walked to the door and held it open, not even looking at her mother as she swept past. Quinn pushed the door shut after her.

"Are you ok?" Miriam asked, unsure if Quinn would even get over a meeting like that. She didn't think she'd have been able to bounce back if her mother had taken that stand when Noah was just days old.

"I'm fine, thanks Miriam," Quinn replied, putting her shoulders back, standing up straight. "That's how the Fabray's roll," she mocked herself and her family. "See a problem, throw money at it and hope it'll go away," she tried to sound like she didn't care but the tears pricking her eyes were a dead give away.

Miriam came up to Quinn and hugged her for a second. "At least you can stop all the talk about getting a job and concentrate on just looking after my beautiful granddaughter, right?" she smiled at Quinn.

"Yes, you're right," Quinn agreed, nodding. "Did you actually order that stroller yet?" she asked Puck. He'd been comparing prices of a few of the more expensive items that they still had to buy on various web sites.

"No, not yet," he replied. "Why?"

"Because we are going to order the most expensive, all singing, all dancing, full of accessories stroller we can find and charge it to my mother," Quinn told both Puck and Miriam. "I know her passwords for all of her accounts," her tone did not invite either Puck or his mom to argue her out of her decision. Neither of them was quite brave enough for that. Scary Quinn.

Late in the afternoon, once Quinn had calmed down, had a nap and even managed to feed Beth without feeling as though her daughter hated her, they all sat out in the backyard. The sun was still fairly high in the sky but the house cast a shadow over most of the patio giving them somewhere to sit in comfort. Puck had carried Beth's crib outside and she was sleeping in between her parents.

"Hi," a man's voice called from behind the tall gate at the side of the house. Puck went to open it.

"Hi dad," he said to the man waiting on the other side. "Nice of you to call," Puck sounded bored.

"Don't start already Noah," sighed the man, "I just got here. Hey Leah, how are you? Still playing the trumpet?" his voice was friendlier when he spoke to the little girl who ran towards her dad to be picked up and hugged. The older version of Puck walked towards the patio, greeting his ex wife in a friendly enough tone then turning his attention to Quinn and Beth. "So you are….?" he asked Quinn.

"This is Quinn Fabray," Puck introduced her to his dad, standing behind Quinn's chair, his hands on her shoulders, almost like he wanted her to know he was giving her extra support, or maybe he was taking it from her. "And this is our daughter," he indicated with a sweep of his hand towards the crib, "Bethany Quinn Puckerman." Puck looked at his dad, his eyes slightly narrowed as if waiting for Ethan Puckerman to find fault, make a comment, something.

"My granddaughter?" Ethan smiled, "she's beautiful Noah. Nice to finally meet you Quinn," he nodded then looked back at Beth. "Do you like being an aunt, Leah?" he asked his daughter, still held on his hip.

"Not really," Leah sighed. "She's really boring, she doesn't _do_ anything. And she smells when she poops her pants."

"May I?" Ethan asked, putting Leah down and reaching out to pull a chair out, to take a seat.

"Of course," Miriam replied. They did try to be civil to each other, especially in front of their children. It didn't always end up that way, especially when Ethan became over critical of their son. She wondered when he was going to realise that Noah only acted as he did, cut his hair the way he did and slacked off at school just to get a reaction from his dad. "Would you like something to drink?" she asked as Ethan sat down.

"Apple juice would be nice if you have some," Ethan smiled at his ex wife who nodded and went in to the kitchen to bring some juice, ice and fresh glasses. "So," he turned to look at Puck. "You decided to be a man and take care of your baby, then?" he asked. "Last I heard from your Nana was that you were getting the baby adopted. I can't say I was happy when I heard that. I'm glad you've done the right thing. Time you took care of business instead of playing the fool. Maybe being a father will teach you about responsibility, make you grow up a bit, get a real job instead of 'cleaning pools'," he said using air quotes for the last bit, knowing full well what Puck actually did when he was servicing his clients.

"Actually, Mr Puckerman," Quinn said, leaning forwards, her elbows resting on the table. "I was the one who wanted to give Beth up, Puck didn't, he wanted to keep her from the start so I don't think it's very fair of you to speak to him like that."

Ethan sat back in his chair and looked up at his son, still stood behind Quinn, massaging her shoulders absently, scowling. "Is that so?" asked Ethan in surprise. "Good, good," he nodded. "I'd hate to think of my own flesh and blood out there in the world somewhere and not being allowed to know anything about her. Thank you," he acknowledged the delivery of the apple juice from Miriam. "My mother says you're still going over to help her out, give her a break a couple of nights a week, Miriam, thank you for that, I know dad is a bit of a handful now. Alzheimer's is a terrible affliction," he sighed then looked at Puck again. "It's time to talk business Noah. You have a family to provide for now. Time to get a real job. It's time you came to work for me. And I'm not taking no for an answer this time," Ethan sounded like he meant it. "And will you please stop using that ridiculous old truck and use the car I bought you for your birthday? It's safer for your daughter. You don't have just yourself to think about anymore. It's time to really step up, really be a man. Show me that you can be."

Puck knew his dad was right, he just hated agreeing with him on anything. He'd felt the same ever since his dad had admitted having the affair with the tattooed freak, which was why his mom had thrown him out and divorced him.

"Where have I got to work?" he asked without enthusiasm, imagining his dad would set him off in the lowliest position in the company, sweeping the floor in the workshop, picking up after the mechanics, just to make him work hard.

"With the design team," Ethan replied. "Jim and Paul think you're a natural at it, they've used some of your designs to build bikes already. They had to adapt some stuff but hey, you drew them when you were what? Twelve? Fourteen? Anyway, they both think they could teach you a lot, what do you say? Get your grades up at school? Go to college? Maybe make the 'Puckerman and Son' sign above the door a reality?" he asked.

Puck wasn't quite sure how to react. Here he was being given his dream by the one person who had let him down big style in the past. Should he trust it? Puck glanced at his daughter, stirring in her crib. Yes, he had to provide for her, he needed to be able to meet her needs. For her he would suck it up, go back on his own personal vow to never accept anything from Ethan Puckerman again. "When do I start?" Puck asked his dad, still not showing a whole lot of enthusiasm.

"Monday. Be at the office at nine. Jim is on vacation but Paul will be there," Ethan told Puck nodding. "And please, use your car not that damn truck. Sorry Quinn, I shouldn't have said that in front of the baby," he apologised.

"Don't worry dad," Leah piped up still at her dad's side. "She can't hear you, she's deaf."


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: There isn't anything within this piece that bears any relation to the Glee we were given on screen. Only certain character names have been borrowed.**

**A/N: Thank you for the reviews, favourites, follows, I really do appreciate it. I will hopefully get my laptop back soon, in working order (fingers crossed) to be able to access my notes and maybe continue with my other fictions. Until then I hope this is acceptable.**

"How do you feel about that?" Ethan asked both Quinn and Puck after Leah's revelation. "Is there anything that can be done to help her? Surgery or something?"

"We don't know yet," Puck replied, sitting down again, reaching out to stroke Beth's foot as she settled back to sleep for a little longer. "The doctors are starting to run tests next week. It might be that she needs surgery but it could just be one of those things and we'll never know the reason," he shrugged. "Doesn't matter either way," he looked at Quinn and gave the tiniest of nods, "she's our daughter and we love her no matter what."

Ethan nodded his head and took his phone from his pocket. "Lillian," he said after the call was answered. "Noah's finally agreed to start working with us, he starts next week, he'll bring his details in for the payroll." Ethan put his phone on speaker and laid it on the table. "He'll bring his daughter's details too for her to be added to…." he didn't even bother to try to speak through Lillian's squeals.

"Hey Lillian," Puck called as she finally quieted.

"Oh Noah, baby," she cried, "I can't believe you're a daddy. It doesn't seem five minutes ago you were just a little boy. Pictures. I want pictures. You're not getting on the payroll if I don't have a picture on my desk on Monday morning, you hear?"

"I hear you Lillian," Puck grinned, "I'll bring something with me, promise."

"How old is she?" Lillian asked. "Does she look like you? What's her name?"

"Who's Lillian?" Quinn asked quietly, after Puck answered all of her questions, aware that the woman was still on speaker.

"Lillian is the company secretary," Puck explained, loud enough for Lillian to hear. "But no one ever actually dare call her that," he shared a rare smile with his dad.

"What do you call her then?" Quinn asked, her voice at a normal level.

"Boss," Lillian, Puck and his dad replied at the same time.

"Lillian," Ethan grabbed her attention again. "I have a question for you, it's for information to help Noah and Quinn with the baby," he added. Puck and Quinn both gave him a puzzled look. He continued with his line of enquiry. "You have a nephew who's deaf, right?" he asked. Lillian said that she did. "There's a possibility that Beth is deaf. She isn't able to hear anything at the moment and next week is starting tests to try to find out why. Is there anything that you or your nephew could tell us? Give a little insight, maybe?"

Lillian was very forthcoming with advice. Puck told her about their plan to learn to sign. Lillian thought this was an excellent idea, she gave them the name of a lecturer from Rhodes State, a friend of her nephew's, who also ran private classes in the evenings.

"Any time you need anything, even if it's just an answer to a question, call me, ok?" Lillian insisted before the call ended. "And I'm so happy you're finally coming to work here Noah, I've missed you, and Leah. Congratulations on the baby too. Big kisses honey, see you Monday."

"She sounds fun," Quinn smiled, a picture of the woman forming in her mind.

"She is," Ethan agreed. "She's 72 years old, refuses to retire and she was my very first client. She still rides the very first custom bike I ever built and sold," he laughed a little.

"Yeah, she's great," Puck agreed. "She rides to work every day on a chopper. Think Hetty from NCIS Los Angeles and you've got her," he grinned. "She's about four and a half feet tall, looks like someone's sweet little old grandma but man, does she have a temper."

"Yeah," agreed Ethan, "when Lillian loses it, it's safer to run, ducking just doesn't cut it," both Ethan and Puck laughed.

"She didn't know about Beth before?" Puck asked his dad, "you didn't tell her that Quinn was pregnant? Why?"

"I didn't say anything to anyone because I thought it would be too hard, especially if you'd gone through with the adoption idea," Ethan admitted. "It was just easier to pretend it wasn't happening. I'm sorry." Puck nodded that he understood.

Miriam invited Ethan to stay to dinner. She usually did when he visited, sometimes Ethan accepted, sometimes he didn't. This time he did. Quinn offered to help but Miriam refused, encouraging Quinn to rest whenever she could. Puck got up to give his mom a hand in the kitchen.

"Has Nana been to visit the baby yet?" Ethan asked Puck as they ate.

"Not yet," Puck murmured. "She's called a few times. Grandpa's had a really bad week. We'll take Beth to see them next week, once Quinn feels up to it," he said, smiling a little at Quinn.

"What about Aunt Freda? Has she been?" Ethan asked.

"Yes, she's been a couple of times," Puck replied. "She came the day we brought Beth home, she let us borrow Joshua's crib and some stuff till we can go shopping."

"And are you ok for money?" Ethan asked. "Is there anything you need straight away?" he saw the glance that Puck sent Quinn's way.

"Well," Puck began uncomfortably, "we got a lot of stuff, gifts from some of our friends and mom bought some stuff for us too. We still have to get the big things, the stroller, her own crib, a dresser, but we'll get there, right Quinn?" he asked, drawing Quinn into the conversation.

Quinn watched the interaction between Puck and his dad. It wasn't a relationship she'd ever thought about before, she was just aware that Ethan Puckerman wasn't always around, she'd never been at home when he'd visited while she lived with Puck before. Quinn wondered if Puck had deliberately kept her away from his dad, especially after hearing what he had to say to his son when he first arrived. She shook herself and concentrated on the question she'd been asked. "I thought we were set for the stroller?" Quinn reminded Puck.

"I'd rather you didn't tap your mom's accounts to do that," Puck admitted. "We can manage for another week or so, if we're going anywhere we'll be in the car and we already have her car seat, so it's fine for now. Especially if I'm working every day," he looked from Quinn to his dad. "How many days a week do I have to work? And how much are you going to pay me?"

"Five days a week, Monday to Friday," Ethan said with a half smile exactly like Puck's. "You'll be well paid," he nodded. "You are the boss' son after all."

"What?" Puck asked with a grin, pretending to be shocked. "_Lillian's_ my mom and you never told me?" he joked, they all laughed, even Leah, although she didn't understand it. "I do have another question," Puck asked his dad, being more serious. "What about at the end of the summer, when I have to start training for football? And when I go back to school? How many days will you expect me to work then?"

"We'll figure that out later," Ethan took a long look at his son. "And you can take all the time you need for Beth's appointments, ok?" he looked at both his son and his ex wife, seeing relief in Miriam's eye. "You know, I am proud of you Noah," he said quietly. "Of both of you," he glanced at Quinn too. "You could have taken the easy way out but you didn't. It's not going to be easy, especially with Beth's added problems, but you know we're here for you, right? Anything you need, anything at all, if it helps Beth, it's yours. Right?"

Puck sighed and looked his dad in the eye, as he hadn't done for a long time, saw the truth there. "I know dad," he said quietly. "Thanks."

To Quinn it sounded almost as though it physically hurt Puck to say that to his dad. She could relate. She didn't have the most comfortable relationship with her parents either. Or her sister. Quinn envied the easy, open relationship Puck had with his mom, able to talk to her about anything, ask her advice, ask for her help. She hoped that she and Beth would share a relationship like that in the future. One thing Quinn knew for sure, they wouldn't have the tense, strained, let's pretend everything is perfect relationship that she shared with her own parents.

Before he left, Ethan asked Puck to show him the stroller that Quinn had been looking at, the one she had decided to fund via her parents. He sought Miriam out in the kitchen to ask her quietly if she thought that it was ok for him to order the stroller, to get it delivered to them in the next couple of days.

"It would be nice for them if you did, Ethan," she replied quietly. "it'll show them that you accept Beth. They really need that. If you'd seen Quinn's mother, how she reacted. God, I could have smacked her. It's as if her parents don't want to know Beth because she's 'not perfect'," Miriam said using air quotes. "She _is _perfect, she's beautiful and he loves her so much already. He's a good kid," she sighed and wiped her damp eyes. "You know Noah only does the things he does just to annoy you, don't you? It hurt him a lot when we split up, when we got divorced. He thought it was because of him. A lot of kids do, I suppose. They seem to think the only problems their parents have revolve around them," she looked up into eyes so like her son's. "They maybe don't see that the problems were there before they were born."

"It wasn't always bad though," Ethan asked, his hand resting gently on Miriam's arm, "was it?"

Miriam looked into Ethan's face again and smiled sadly. "No," she shook her head, "it wasn't always bad. We had a lot of good times, we just couldn't get past Tanya."

"I know," Ethan said as his hand fell away. "I'm sorry for that, for being stupid, thinking the grass would be greener and all that. I'm sorry that I ever hurt you Miriam, sorry that Noah and Leah got hurt too. Especially Noah. He was old enough to understand what an asshole his old man turned out to be."

As Quinn climbed back into bed in the early hours of the morning, after Beth had eaten and was settled again, she found herself fighting back the tears. She tried really hard to keep quiet, to not wake Puck up, but he heard her anyway.

"S'up?" Puck mumbled, still more than half asleep. "Beth ok?" he asked.

"She's fine," Quinn replied through her tears. "I don't know why I'm crying, hormones probably," she tried to laugh through them.

"C'mere," Puck said quietly, his eyes still hadn't opened neither had he lifted his head from the pillow. He reached for Quinn and drew her into his arms to cuddle her close. He kissed the top of her head, tucked her under his chin, his hands rubbing soothing strokes up and down her back. "Better?" he asked.

"Mmm," Quinn nodded, staying where she was, feeling secure. "I'm scared," she whispered.

"What're you scared of?" Puck asked, his eyes opening just the slightest bit.

"I'm scared for Beth," she eventually replied, once she was sure she could say it without falling apart. "I'm scared what it will mean if she does need surgery, how much it will hurt her. I'm scared that she _won't_ need surgery and she'll always be deaf. I'm scared that she'll feel isolated, feel different from the rest of us. I'm scared she'll blame me, us, when she's older. I'm just scared," she finished.

"I think that's pretty much normal for all new parents," Puck murmured, his eyes closed again. "According to the books anyway," he said with a smile. "We just have to take it one day at a time and do the best we can," he rubbed Quinn's back a little more firmly, "ok?"

Quinn nodded in response. "I'm sorry you have to go work for your dad," she said quietly.

Puck sighed. "Want to hear something funny?" he asked. Quinn nodded against his chest. "I've always wanted to work with my dad, I love just letting my imagination go and drawing weird and wonderful bikes and stuff. I just didn't want to ever admit that to him, it would have been like saying I forgive him for cheating on my mom and I don't because it hurt her so much."

"So you're not upset at giving up your pool cleaning business? Or working for your dad?" she asked, pulling back a little to see his face.

"No," Puck smiled, "I'm not."

"What about the car thing?" she asked. "I've only ever seen you driving your truck and be honest, it's about ready to fall to pieces. Why would you drive that when you have a decent car?"

"Honestly?" Puck asked, feeling a little embarrassed. Quinn nodded. "I like my truck, even though it's a bucket of rust, because I bought it myself from my pool cleaning money. And it pissed my dad off," he glanced at the clock on Quinn's nightstand. "Can we go back to sleep now? It'll be my turn to get up with Beth in a couple of hours."

"Ok," Quinn said as she started to pull out of Puck's embrace.

"No," he said quietly, "stay here, we'll both sleep better." Quinn settled back and very soon they were both asleep, till Beth woke them at 7 am.

"That better be a gun in your pocket, Puckerman," Quinn murmured as she slowly came awake with Beth's cries.

"If that's what you want to call it, its fine by me," Puck replied, smiling, "I prefer 'Puckasaurus' myself, but hey, it is what it is and what do you expect? Hot chick plastered all over me all night? Puckasaurus is mighty pleased to see you this morning," he smiled before getting out of bed to pick Beth up out of her crib.

"I'd better go make her bottle and bring it up," Quinn said with a shake of her head. "You can't go down there like that."

"Hi Freda," Miriam greeted her sister-in-law when she opened the door after lunch. "Hi Connie, how are you? Where's Mo?" she asked, looking round for her father-in-law, not used to seeing her mother-in-law without him.

"Ethan stopped by to spend some time with him and he asked Freda if she'd bring me over to see the baby," Connie told Miriam as she kissed her cheek. "It's ok to just drop in, isn't it?" she asked.

"Of course it is. Noah," Miriam shouted. "Noah, Leah, Nana and Aunt Freda are here," she called. "Come on in, make yourself comfortable. How's Mo today?" Miriam asked, aware that for the last couple of weeks her father-in-law had become increasingly absent within himself, rarely even recognising his wife of almost 50 years.

Puck jogged down the stairs to greet Connie. "Hey Nana," he said as he kissed her cheek. "Have you come to meet Beth?" he asked. "Hi Aunt Freda," he kissed his aunt too.

"Where is she?" Connie asked, sounding excited. "My great grandbaby? Where is she?"

"Quinn's just changing her, she'll be down in a minute," Puck replied going back to the bottom of the stairs to call to Quinn that his nana was here. He went back to speak to Connie. "Leah's upstairs with Quinn," he answered the question of where his sister was hiding.

Leah ran down the stairs ahead of Quinn carrying the baby. "Nana," she shouted, hugging her around the neck. "Can I come and stay with you tonight?" she asked.

"Not right now Leah," Connie answered sadly. "Grandpa's really not feeling well just now. Maybe in a couple of weeks, ok?" she held Leah's chin and kissed her a few times.

"Ok," Leah said sadly, her shoulders slumping. "I really miss our movie nights though Nana," she said, turning away with a sigh.

"I miss movie nights too," Quinn said as she came into the room carrying Beth. "Maybe we can watch something together? Let your brother take care of Beth, just you and me? What do you think?" she asked Leah. Leah's face lit up.

"You will?" Leah asked Quinn. "Thanks Quinn. You're better at watching movies than Noah, he talks all the way through them."

"Yeah, I know he does," Quinn whispered loudly. "He's a nuisance isn't he?" Quinn nodded along with Leah as they both turned to look at Puck whose face was a picture of innocence.

Quinn walked over to Connie and placed Beth into her waiting arms. "I take it you've come to see your great granddaughter?" she smiled at the white haired lady. "Here she is, here's Beth."

"Bethany Quinn Puckerman," Noah said, standing behind Quinn, "to be precise."

"A beautiful name for a beautiful baby," Connie said with a smile, her eyes never leaving Beth's face. Beth was laid peacefully in Connie's arms, her tiny little face changing expression repeatedly, frowning, poking her little tongue in and out, looking as if she was testing every muscle, every movement she could make. "She's perfect Noah, beautiful. She's like a little doll, isn't she Leah?"

"She's ok," Leah said, pulling a face, "but she doesn't _do_ anything. Maybe she'll be more fun when she can crawl."

Puck rolled his eyes at Quinn, Leah kept saying that now. He had no doubt that when Beth was up and about, able to get around and getting in to all of Leah's stuff she'd be singing a different tune. He remembered when Leah had been born and the stuff she managed to destroy once she learnt to crawl. Puck had learned pretty quick not to leave anything of his lying around.

Puck answered the door while Quinn chatted with his nana and Aunt Freda. It was a delivery for him and Quinn. He took the huge box into the house and started unpacking the stroller they'd chosen. "I thought we were waiting to do this?" Puck said, wishing Quinn hadn't gone behind his back and used her mother's account.

"I didn't order it," Quinn said in surprise. "Honestly, I didn't. You were right yesterday, it would've been the wrong thing to do just because I'm mad at my parents."

"What does the invoice say?" Quinn asked. Maybe her mom had seen the items that had been selected and were sitting in the basket on one of her shopping accounts waiting to be purchased and had a change of heart.

"Dad?" Puck said in surprise as he read the name on the invoice. "Dad got this for us? For Beth?" Puck looked at his mom to see if she knew. From the smile on her face, he could see that she knew all about it.

"He must have done it as soon as he left last night," Miriam said. "He asked if I thought it was a good idea for him to buy it for you. I thought it was. Was it?" she asked.

"They delivered pretty quickly then," Puck said as he shook his head. "He didn't leave here till after nine," he gave his mom the half smile. "I'll call him, say thank you. And yeah, I really do appreciate it."

Puck went out to the yard to call his dad. Connie and Freda shared a smile. They'd always been a bit upset that Puck had distanced himself so much from his dad. They both hoped that this was a sign of better times to come.

He came back in with a wry smile on his face. "He said to tell you you've given him a beautiful granddaughter and this is to say thank you for letting him be a part of her life," he told Quinn. She gave him a little hug, she knew how hard it had been for Puck to make that call to his dad. She appreciated it.

"Your dad says you're starting work for him next week, Noah," his Nana said to break the silence. "Are you looking forward to it?" she asked.

"I am actually, Nana," Puck replied, surprising himself by how much he meant that. "He said I can have the time off I need for Beth's appointments too, sometimes its cool being the boss' son," he winked at Quinn.

Nana Connie fell in love with her great granddaughter and spent a long time cuddling her. As she and Aunt Freda left Puck asked Quinn if she felt up to having a walk with Beth to the park.

"I think that would be really nice," she replied, a bit surprised that he would want to.

"What about you Leah?" he asked his sister, "do you want to come too? Just for a while?"

Puck pushed Beth's stroller and Leah skipped along holding Quinn's hand. At the park Puck and Quinn sat on the grass, Beth slept in her new stroller and Leah played on the swings.

"It was really nice of your dad to send this," Quinn said, pointing at the stroller. "You've never really talked about him," she looked at Puck, waiting for him to contribute. "What happened?"

"A few years ago," Puck started, checking to make sure Leah was still on the swings, "the business really took off. It's always been steady but when shows like American Chopper and Pimp My Ride started, suddenly people from all over wanted custom built bikes and their cars customising," Puck shrugged. "Instead of making a steady living, suddenly the money was rolling in. Dad wanted to move to a bigger house in a better neighbourhood. Mom wanted to stay where we were. There were some arguments about it, dad started spending more and more time at work, coming home less and less, then he hired a new graphic designer, Tanya."

"I take it he and Tanya got close?" Quinn put it delicately.

"Yeah, very close," Puck nodded with a harsh laugh. "On their anniversary my mom decided to surprise him. She got Nana to come over and stay with me and Leah and went to the office intending to have a romantic picnic with him. Unfortunately, mom was the one who got the surprise. Dad and Tanya going at it on his desk," Puck looked up at Quinn, seeing something in her eyes that he didn't want to see. Pity. "She threw him out, they got divorced and that's it. He visits sometimes, has dinner sometimes. I know my mom still loves him, you can see it when she looks at him but I think, even though the thing with Tanya didn't last, she's too scared of getting hurt again to want to try again with him."

"Would you like them to try again?" Quinn asked.

"I don't know," he answered honestly. "I think it would be good for Leah if he was around more, maybe even good for me," he shrugged again. "I know I always act like I hate him, but I don't, not really."

"You were disappointed because he was human and let you down?" Quinn asked, guessing correctly. Puck nodded, his jaw clenching, not trusting his voice to be steady. Quinn watched him pulling blades of grass, playing with them, anything but make eye contact with her. "Don't you think it's time to mend a few fences, have a real relationship with him? Beth deserves to have at least one grandpa, one who loves her no matter what."

Puck looked at the stroller and smiled. "And for her I'm willing to give it a try, be the son my dad wants so that he can be the grandfather she deserves," he replied. And he actually meant it.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I make no claim to the original Glee idea or the character names. The rest is my work.**

**A/N: A personal insight at the end of the chapter. Thank you for the reviews of the previous three chapters.**

**I picture Puck's dad as Michael Madsen in the Free Willy days.**

"The initial tests we conducted, the otoacoustic emissions tests," the doctor consulted the papers in front of him, "were fairly conclusive. The microphones we placed in Beth's ears didn't detect any echoes which indicates that there is significant hearing loss. The tests we've conducted since indicate that Beth's hearing loss is sensorineural."

"What does that mean for Beth, for her future?" Puck asked. As much as he'd researched on the internet, the amount of information coming their way at this moment was overwhelming him.

"Well, for this type of hearing loss there's no actual cure," Dr Jenson replied. "She could well benefit from either hearing aids or a cochlear implant or a combination of both."

Quinn nodded, considering what the doctor was telling them. "Was it something I did while I was pregnant that caused this?" she asked, feeling more guilty than ever, knowing that at least in the beginning she hadn't taken the best care of herself.

"There are a number of reasons for an anomaly in the development of the inner ear," he replied. "They range from infection in the mother during pregnancy, genetics, even exposure to some chemicals. The inner ear didn't develop as it should have during the pregnancy and the result is that Beth has a diagnosis of profound deafness. We aren't able to pinpoint with these tests what was the actual cause of the anomaly in Beth's particular case. "

"How old would she have to be before she can be fitted for hearing aids?" Puck asked, not able to recall at this precise moment all that he had learned from the internet. "Would they really help her?"

"They could help her greatly and its possible to fit hearing aids from as young as three months," Dr Jenson responded with a nod. "The first stage is hearing aids. We would then go through a number of other tests to see if Beth would be a suitable candidate for cochlear implant when she's a little older. Obviously this procedure carries its own risks and it's something that would need family counselling first."

Miriam, sat back with Beth on her lap. She also had a question. "Would you mind if I just asked something?" she asked Quinn and Puck, waiting for their nod before turning to the doctor. "You said Beth is profoundly deaf, is there any hearing at all? I don't understand how hearing aids will help if there isn't any hearing. I'm sorry if that's a stupid question," she said looking slightly embarrassed.

"Where your child or your grandchild is concerned, there are no stupid questions," Dr Jenson smiled. "I'd be surprised if you didn't have a million questions."

Dr Jenson gave them a lot more information, advised them to go away and think about things, research things and if they had any questions at all to contact him, he would do his best to answer them as soon as possible.

"So what do you think?" Puck asked as he fastened the car seat into the back of his car. Quinn had got in the back beside Beth, Miriam was in the front. "We have to at least give hearing aids a try, it might be exactly what she needs, she might not even need surgery if they work for her," he bent in to the car and kissed Beth's little head. She'd slept all the way through the appointment, she hadn't woken even while the doctor had conducted some of the tests which was a good thing.

"When we get home you should call your dad," Miriam advised Puck. "Quinn, as much as your parents haven't shown the support you'd expect, I think you should call them too," she reached between the seats to pat Quinn's knee. "They might surprise you," she said hopefully.

"Dad made sure Beth got added as a dependent on our medical insurance," Puck reminded them. "If you don't want to let them know anything you don't have to. We'll have to find out what the insurance covers."

"You seem to be getting on well with your dad now," Miriam smiled and she was pleased about that. "How is work going? Are you enjoying it?" she asked as Puck drove, concentrating on the traffic.

"It's pretty cool," Puck nodded, smiling. "Jim and Paul are good fun to be around."

"It's not all fun I hope," Miriam said although she couldn't really hold back the smile. "Sitting around drinking Red Bull and drawing all day, it doesn't exactly sound like hard work."

"It can be," Puck grumbled but couldn't hide the smile either. "I sometimes have to sharpen pencils and everything, you should see the blisters on my thumb and the paper cuts, God, I should be getting danger money," he joked.

"Did you show your mom the design Jim did for you?" Quinn asked absently, studying her sleeping daughter's face.

"What design is that?" Miriam asked, interested.

Puck turned a scowl on Quinn through the rear view mirror. She realised what she'd said and mouthed an apology. Puck had shown her the design and made her promise not to tell anyone, especially his mom. There's no way Miriam was going to allow him to have a tattoo, not even if the design was a picture of his daughter. Better to get it done then let her find out afterwards when she couldn't do anything about it. He'd already booked the appointment, shown his fake ID when he'd been asked about his age and was all set for this weekend. "Errm, a paint job for this," he indicated the car he was driving. "I don't know if I'm going to go ahead with it, it was just fun having input in the design."

"It's your car," Miriam reminded him, "you can do what you want with it. At least you're driving it now and not your truck. Your dad must be pleased about that."

"I'm driving it because it's safer for Beth. The back seat of a BMW is way safer than the front seat of my crappy old truck," Puck admitted. "Not that I'm getting rid of the truck. I took it in to work to maybe do some customising on it. You never know, I might make it my personal project. Maybe me and dad can work on it together, like we used to do," he shrugged. And he was actually hoping that they could.

Leah bounced out of the house with Aunt Freda as soon as they arrived at home. She danced around Quinn asking about her niece.

"So what did the doctor say?" Freda asked.

"First off they're going to fit her with hearing aids and in a few months we'll consider cochlear implant," Puck replied. "I'll get her," he told Quinn as she went to unfasten the car seat.

"Your dad called," Freda said, "he wants you to call him back as soon as you can."

"I'll go do it now," Puck assured his aunt as he carried Beth through the door. "He probably wants to know how the appointment went."

Leah followed and when Puck set Beth's car seat down she picked up the baby's hands, dancing with them. Beth used her newest adorable tricks, she smiled, kicked her feet and blew bubbles. Leah talked to Beth looking directly at her, asking if she was a good girl, Beth blew more bubbles.

"Noah," Ethan said as soon as Puck called. "How did it go today?" Puck explained everything that the doctor had told them. "Good, good, so she could be fitted with them within a few weeks?"

"Yeah she could," Puck replied. "Does the insurance cover that?" he asked.

"It doesn't need to, government funding does," Ethan advised. "I'm not sure if that covers digital hearing aids though or just analogue. If it doesn't then we pay ourselves. Better that than Beth missing any more than she already has." Ethan had done his research too.

"Thanks dad," Puck said quietly. "We both really appreciate this, me and Quinn. And Beth will too when she's older, I'm sure."

"There is one other thing Noah," Ethan's tone of voice changed. Puck thought it sounded more like his dad from a couple of months ago. "I had a conversation with Jim this morning, regarding a _design_?"

"Shit," whispered Puck. "He told you about that? He wasn't supposed to," he said, resigned to hearing disappointment from his dad.

"I bet he wasn't," Ethan sounded more amused than disappointed. "Hey, who am I to comment? I got my first one when I was about your age. For God's sake don't tell your mother I told you that. I can see why you want it, it's beautiful. Where are you getting it?"

"Where as in the shop?" Puck asked, hardly able to believe his dad wasn't telling him he couldn't get the tattoo done. "Or where….." he became aware his mom was at the back of him. "Got to go dad, I'll talk to you later, bye."

"What was that about?" Miriam asked, curious as to why her son seemed so nervous.

"Nothing, dad was just asking about the appointment," he assured Miriam. "I'm going to go see if Quinn needs any help." Puck escaped, running up the stairs to their room.

"Thanks, Fabray," he said as soon as he walked through the door.

Quinn shrieked and spun round. "Could you knock next time, Puckerman?" she squealed. "You can't just barge in here when I'm getting undressed" she grumbled.

"Yes I can," Puck replied, smirking, enjoying the scene in front of him. "It's my room too. And stop bitching, I've seen it all already," he grinned as she tried to cover her exposed body. "Looking good, Fabray, those abs are making a comeback, you've been working hard. I think I should give you a full body exam just to make sure though, make certain you're 'bikini ready', you know, for Berry's End of Summer Pool Extravaganza?" he walked towards Quinn, a huge grin on his face. "Anyone else would just call it a damn pool party," he commented aloud to himself.

"Nice try," Quinn couldn't help but laugh, "but it's not going to work. You better not come any closer, I'm warning you, oh…" she finished, the breath knocked out of her as Puck snatched her roughly into his arms.

"I'm just checking," he repeated. "I wouldn't want you to feel uncomfortable at the party, not with Santana probably showing off every asset that she has."

"That's your excuse?" Quinn tried not to smile, looking up into Puck's amused eyes. "You just want to save me from embarrassing myself?" she pouted a little and leaned back, opening a space between their upper bodies, closing the gap lower down. Puck's arm round her waist held her steady. "Don't you think I look as toned as I did before?" she asked, sounding full of innocence. Quinn swayed a little side to side, rubbing against Puck making him groan.

"Ok, ok, you win," he sighed, letting her go. "But damn," he shook his head as he sucked in a deep breath. "Your body is still smokin'" he sighed again as he nodded.

"Will I be able to pull off a bikini?" Quinn asked in all seriousness, looking down at her toned stomach, her slightly fuller boobs, twisting her body to try to look over her shoulder at her butt. "Would I be better off in a one piece?" she asked.

Puck had already turned away. He glanced back over his shoulder at her, watching her as she reassessed her body. "Beautiful," he thought to himself. "What I wouldn't give…" he had to pull himself together. Friendship. That's what Quinn wanted. Nothing more. Friends and 'parent partners'. That's it. Even though through many nights it left Puck almost growling in frustration. If that's all Quinn was comfortable with then that's what he'd be. A friend and a partner. He'd done enough damage before, he couldn't screw things up for her again.

"You'd look amazing wrapped in a garbage bag, don't sweat it," he advised and then remembered why he'd followed her in the first place. He grumbled to Quinn that she'd almost let the cat out of the bag about his weekend plans. "My dad knows," he admitted. "He's seen it too and likes the design. He isn't going to stop me. Try to keep it quiet for just a couple more days. Please?" he asked, pouting.

"I will, I'm sorry," Quinn apologised, reaching to kiss his cheek. At the very last second Puck turned, their lips meeting. "Puckerman!" she cried, slapping his shoulder.

"I couldn't help myself," Puck laughed without a hint of an apology. "Ok, ok, I'll try harder." he said, his hands held up in surrender.

Quinn couldn't quite hide the smile, even though she tried. She lifted one eyebrow in her classic stare. "Make sure you do," she advised.

On Saturday morning Puck disappeared without a word to his mom about where he was going. Quinn knew and played dumb when Miriam asked her. Ethan called to pick up Leah to take her to her softball tournament.

"Morning Quinn," he called as he came through the door. "Where's my baby?" he asked, looking at Beth as he spoke and smiled. "There she is," he cried.

Held upright in Quinn's arms, her head still a little wobbly, Beth kept her eyes on her Grandpa's smiling face. She was returning smiles all the time now to familiar people. "Have you got a smile for Grandpa?" Quinn asked, turning Beth to face her as she said it.

"Where's Noah this morning?" Ethan asked.

"Errm, he's busy doing something," Quinn replied, hoping she didn't sound too nervous.

"Oh, right," nodded Ethan, getting it. "Tell him I'll be back later," he stepped closer to speak quietly to Quinn. "I'll try to diffuse Miriam if she gets a bit…., you know," he muttered. "Leah, baby, you're ready. Let's get going," he said louder as Leah joined them. "We'll see you later," he called as they went out of the front door.

Miriam appeared in front of Quinn just as she thought she was safe. "So _now_ do you want to tell me what's going on?" Miriam asked. "I know there's something and I know that Noah is involved up to his ears. Ethan seems to be supporting him, whatever it is. And if I'm honest, that doesn't entirely fill me with confidence. So spill," Miriam stood in Quinn's way, she didn't sound angry, just curious.

"I can't tell you," Quinn replied, her tone pleading. "Please don't ask me, ask Puck when he gets home. Please?" she begged.

"Alright, I'll let you go," Miriam agreed, "but whatever it is he's up to better not be stupid or something that'll get him into trouble."

As soon as she got settled outside in the shade with Beth, Quinn sent a message to Puck letting him know his mother knew he was up to something. Her phone rang a few minutes later. "Hey, it's me," Puck said as soon as she answered.

"Well obviously, since it was your name that appeared on my screen" Quinn told him, pulling a face. "Well? How's it going?" she asked.

"Done, I'm just leaving the shop right now," Puck told her. "It looks amazing. Even though I know my mom is going to kill me, I don't regret it."

"Send me a picture," Quinn asked smiling.

"I'll be home in twenty minutes," Puck reminded her, "you can see it then."

"Ok," Quinn pouted.

"Was that Noah?" Miriam asked as she came out to the patio with iced drinks for herself, Quinn and Freda. "Have you any idea what he's been doing?" she asked Freda.

"Not a clue," Freda admitted. "But I bet Quinn knows," she winked at Quinn. "I'm sorry doll, you just have that guilty look about you. You know _exactly_ what Noah's up to. Time to 'fess up," she smiled.

"Errm, can you just wait about half an hour?" Quinn asked. "And just so you know, it was totally his idea, I had no say in this. _At all_." She wanted to be sure that Miriam did not blame her in any way.

"Now you're making me even more nervous," Miriam admitted. "It's something stupid, isn't it? And I'm going to kill him for it, aren't I?" she asked, rolling her eyes and shaking her head. Miriam stewed for another twenty minutes till Puck came sheepishly out of the house and on to the patio.

"Hey mom," Puck said quietly, taking the seat next to Quinn. He glanced at Quinn and winked. "Like my new hair cut?" he asked, giving everyone a really big cheesy grin.

"I know what you're up to, Noah Elijah Puckerman," Miriam said sternly, not taken in by the pretended innocence of her son. "And it's not working. What have you done and how much is it going to cost me to get you out of trouble?"

Quinn leaned over to Puck to whisper that she liked his hair. It wasn't the thin strip mohawk he'd sported most recently until the dermatologist had shaved his head, it was more like how he'd had it cut at the end of last summer, just before the start of sophomore year, wide across the top of his head, the sides shaved going in to a point at the back of his head.

"I like that you like it," Puck replied, flirting for all he was worth, hoping to distract his mom. He reached over to pick up Quinn's drink from the table.

"Hold it mister," Miriam shouted, making Puck freeze, looking sideways at Quinn. "Stop right there. What is _that_?" Miriam pointed to a bandage poking out of the bottom of his short sleeve. "What did you do?"

"Errm, this?" Puck asked as he gingerly touched the tender area. "Nothing," he shook his head dismissively, "nothing, this is nothing."

"It doesn't look like 'nothing'," Miriam said as she reached out to lift the sleeve. "I don't for one second believe _that_," she nodded her head at the bandage that was now almost fully on display, "is to cover an injury."

"How do you know?" Puck asked, trying to buy himself some time. "I might have had an accident or been attacked or…" he ran out of things to say. And he saw from the folded arms and the expression on his mom's face that she wasn't anywhere near convinced.

"Thirteen years with your father and you think I wouldn't know a fresh tattoo when I see one?" Miriam scoffed. "Who did it? More importantly, what is it?" she asked.

Puck looked at Quinn before removing the covering. "It's Beth," he said simply. "And before you ask, no, I'll never regret it. Ever," he said with a smile at his daughter.

Miriam grounded Puck for two weeks. He was allowed to go to work, to sign class with Quinn and to Beth's appointment for her inoculations, but that was it. Ethan did try to intervene on Puck's behalf. Miriam wasn't having any of it. He was still grounded. Miriam also went to the tattoo studio and made a complaint to the manager that her son had been maimed for life and he was only 16.

"Sorry Finn, I'd love to come but apparently I'm an idiot and can't go anywhere fun," Puck said into his phone while scowling at his mom during the second week of his grounding. "I might do something stupid, like have a life and make my own decisions or something," he griped.

"Dude, what did you do to piss your mom off?" Finn asked, laughing silently. All the times that Puck had come up with ideas for them to do stuff and Finn had been the one that got into trouble while Puck always got out of it looking angelic, Finn felt a certain amount of satisfaction that this time it had been Puck alone. He couldn't believe Miriam had grounded his friend though.

"I got a tattoo," Puck admitted. He really wanted to answer Finn's next question. Hell yeah, it was _more_ than cool, it was amazing but his mom was still listening so he thought better of it. He'd get Quinn to take a picture of it now that it had almost healed then he could send it to Finn.

Beth's first ear moulds were minute. Puck couldn't believe the size of them. At Dr Jenson's office he and Quinn spent time practicing with a lifelike 'baby' doll, putting the hearing aids in and taking them out, learning how to recognise even from the not quite distinct shape which fitted in the left ear and which in the right. They learned how to attach them to clothing so that if Beth pulled them out they wouldn't be lost *and then they watched in fascination the very first time that their baby heard a sound. In the sound proof room the audiologist made a noise. Beth, sat up on Quinn's knee, her back supported against Quinn's stomach, wearing her hearing aids for the first time, heard the sound. It startled her and made her cry which startled her even more and made her cry harder. Quinn shushed Beth, comforted her with quiet words against her head. Beth turned to the sound which made Quinn cry too. Puck had to swallow hard past the lump in his throat. Their baby had responded to her mommy's voice for the first time ever. What a beautiful moment.

"Hey Beth," Puck said softly and almost cried himself when Beth turned towards him. "That's amazing," he breathed, "I didn't…..I couldn't….."

"I know," the audiologist smiled, "it's a unique moment, right? Something you never thought would happen? And other people just take it for granted," she blinked herself, "it gets me every time," she admitted. "There's not a feeling like it in the world."

Beth was the ultimate hit at Rachel's pool party the weekend before school started. She had very quickly become used to her hearing aids and reacted fairly normally to sounds around her. She was a very happy, sunny, smiling baby and accepted the adoration of all of her parents friends as her right.

"Wow," Finn nodded as Puck took off his shirt, "it is cool, but I can see why your mom grounded you."

Puck lifted his arm to peer at his tattoo. "It's more than cool," he replied. "And if my mom thinks grounding me is going to stop me getting more in the future then she should consider it an epic fail. Only fifty-seven weeks to wait till I'm legal then she can't stop me," he reminded Finn.

"I'm just glad you went with this one on your own," he told Puck. "You've always talked me into doing the stupid stuff with you and I always got caught while you always got off."

"Wish I was getting off just now," Puck took the phrase to a different meaning when he grumbled that under his breath while watching Quinn take off her shirt leaving her in her bikini top and short sarong. He sucked in a breath then groaned as she bent over to take Beth out of her stroller.

"Deep breath," muttered Finn just behind him, his hand on Puck's shoulder encouragingly. "Suck it up. Think pure thoughts. Welcome to my world," he said quietly. "The world of oh-my-God-I-so-would-if-she'd-let-me-but-there's-not-a-chance-in-hell-of-getting-into-her-pants-this-decade."

"Thanks," Puck replied, just a touch sarcastically. "It's not a world I've ever visited before and I have to tell you buddy, it's a totally crappy place to live."

"But you still share a room, right?" Finn asked quietly. Puck nodded. "And a bed?" again Puck nodded. "And nothing goes on there?" Puck shook his head. "At all?" Finn asked again, incredulous.

"Not a damn thing," Puck murmured. "And she knows _exactly_ how to play it to get me revved then draws back with the I'm so glad we're just friends crap," he complained. "And it's coming," Puck promised. "It'll happen, she'll do that one time too many and I won't be able to stop myself. I keep warning her," Puck sat on the edge of the pool dangling his feet in the water, Finn sat down next to him. "I swear to God she does it deliberately. Just watch her for a while, don't let her see you watching, but man, she flirts so much and every day its getting harder and harder to smile and walk away."

"Are you sure she wants you to walk away?" Finn asked, covertly watching Quinn, watched how she made sure she could see Puck, made sure he could see her, the extra swing of her hips when Puck looked in her direction. "She needs to watch the signals she's sending because that is definitely giving a mixed message. Her body is saying one thing and her mouth is saying another. Maybe it's time to re-evaluate this just being friends business?"

"Did Rachel get any wine coolers?" Puck asked, still unable to take his eyes off of Quinn's butt. Finn nodded.

"Yeah, just a few, she said we're all allowed two, max," he replied. "Why?" he asked.

"Because I'm so ready for the 'wine cooler effect'" Puck said with a twitch of his eyebrow, a half smile on his lips. "Oh yeah," he murmured as he leant back on his hands. "But this time I _will_ be careful," he promised.

The afternoon turned to evening, the sun went down and the heat of the day disappeared with it. Quinn started to get Beth ready to take her home. "Are you ready Puckerman?" she asked, her eyes just a touch glassy.

"Yep I am," he said as he stood, pulling his shirt on. "Beth seems to have had a good day, don't you think?" he asked monitoring Quinn's responses and reactions.

"She does," Quinn sighed, smiling down at her beautiful, sleepy baby, leaning against Puck's chest as he looked down at Beth too. "I feel very wobbly," she giggled.

"You do?" asked Puck in surprise. "Wobbly how?"

"Like I've had more than two wine coolers," Quinn giggled again, turning her face further into Puck's chest to try to stem the sudden bubble of laughter that was threatening to escape.

"Maybe it's time to get you home," Puck said, his chin on his chest as he looked down at Quinn. Her arms went round his waist as she pulled him close.

"Mmmmm," agreed Quinn. "Take me home, I want to snuggle up to you in the dark," she whispered loudly.

Puck looked round at all of their friends watching the interaction. Finn shook his head slowly, grinning at Puck. Puck winked back. Finn knew full well that Puck hadn't taken even a single sip of his allotted two wine coolers. He also knew that Quinn was totally unaware that she'd drunk four. "Time for bed, Fabray," he said looking back down at Quinn, taking her hand to keep her with him as he took control of the stroller too.

"Yeah," sighed Quinn. "I want to go to bed. I'm ready to go to bed," she looked up at Puck just a little unsteadily. "You'll come with me, right?" she asked.

"Hell yeah," Puck replied seeing his immediate future brighten up considerably.

"Be careful," Finn called to the pair as they walked in the direction of Puck's house just a few streets away.

Puck turned back to grin widely at Finn. "I didn't like your world, I'm going back to my own," he called across the distance. "See you at school next week," he finished before turning back and walking a little faster towards home. Those wine coolers, they certainly have a lot to answer for.

*The first time my son heard anything he reacted this way. He cried at the strangeness of sound then cried even more when he heard himself cry. The very first time he turned at the sound of my voice I cried buckets, we all did in all honesty. The very first time he heard a car engine he almost climbed out of his stroller to get into my arms he was so freaked out. The things we take for granted, every day, without thought absolutely scared the life out of him. The sound of my family speaking to me, my cat meowing, the sound of children playing are probably the things I miss the most, but at least I can imagine them, hear them in my head from memory, even if I can't hear them for real anymore.*


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: No ownership claimed or implied. Nothing gained.**

**A/N: A few new strings to the story, directions it can go.**

By the time Puck had made sure Beth was bathed, fed and in bed in the tiny room next door to theirs that used to be a study, Quinn was sound asleep, laid diagonally across their bed, on her stomach and snoring. Loudly. He nudged her, gently. Whispered her name near her ear. Then called her name. Then nudged her more firmly. Quinn slept through all of it. Nothing short of a bomb going off at the side of her head was going to wake Quinn. Puck threw himself down at the side of her, growled at the ceiling and complained bitterly about how unfair life was.

"Stop talking," whined Quinn, shifting slightly but not waking.

"Quinn," called Puck softly. "Quinn, wake up. Quinn, it's an emergency," he lied.

Quinn pushed herself up on her arms and looked around sleepily. "What's wrong? What happened?" she asked, her eyes closing again.

"This," Puck murmured and pushed himself into the space she'd occupied, knocking her arms out from under her, catching her as she fell. "Ah, Quinn, baby, it's been way too long," he said as he guided her mouth to meet his.

Quinn yanked herself away. "What are you doing?" she squealed suddenly coming totally awake. "We don't do _this_" she sniffed. "I thought we were just friends?" she asked.

Puck groaned self-pityingly. "Quinn, please," he begged, "I'm _dying_ here," he exclaimed, absolutely serious, sure that he would die if he had to spend one more night sharing his bed with her and not be able to touch her. "Santana is looking like a pretty good…..mfffhh" his words got muffled under Quinn's lips as she plastered herself over him. "Thank you God," Puck thought to himself, "why didn't I think of pulling the Santana card sooner?"

"I'm not going to have sex with you," Quinn said as she lifted her head. "I'll make out with you but that's…..mmfffhhh" she got cut off by Puck pulling her back down to him for a long, long, mind-blowing kiss.

"I haven't had sex with anyone since we did it just before you left me to go live with Mercedes," Puck admitted, his fingers speared in her hair, looking up into her eyes.

"Really?" Quinn asked, amazed. "No one? Not even Santana?" she had to ask. "That's over four months ago. I thought you and Santana were….."

"No one," Puck repeated, the sincerity in his eyes couldn't be faked. "And I really, really want to be with you," his voice shook a little. "But not like this," he sighed, feeling guilty that he'd resorted to plying her with alcohol to loosen up her inhibitions. "I'm sorry Quinn," he said quietly, "so sorry."

"Why are you sorry?" Quinn whispered, not sure she wanted to know the answer.

"For trying to get you drunk," he admitted. "I knew the only way you'd ever be with me again was if you weren't in full control of yourself," Puck sighed and turned onto his side, taking Quinn with him, holding her close. "And I feel like an absolute shithead for doing that to you. I'm sorry," he murmured against her forehead, his eyes closed.

"You're a jerk," Quinn said quietly, her tone was almost teasing, certainly not angry and she wasn't struggling to get out of his arms. "You know that, right?"

Puck sighed heavily. "Yeah, I know that," he agreed.

"Still want to make out with me?" she asked coyly, blinking her huge eyes at him.

Puck's lips turned up at one side. "Oh yeah," he whispered as his lips touched hers. "Naked making out?" he asked hopefully, after a few minutes spent kissing her thoroughly. "You really should get out of this bikini," he whispered.

"Half naked," Quinn conceded, "top half only," she qualified as his hand went to the tie fastening at the side of her sarong.

"We'll see," Puck grinned as he dipped to kiss every inch of her throat making her shiver and swallow hard. Puck rolled them over until he was on top of her, Quinn's shirt and bikini top had been flung randomly across the room, Puck's shirt had disappeared too. "This little skirt must be really, really uncomfortable," he tried again to pull the ties making them knot together. "When you bent over to take Beth out of her stroller this afternoon," he told Quinn quietly, "I nearly had a heart attack," he kissed her again, his hand stroked up her thigh to her hip. "it was like seeing you in your Cheerios uniform again, with the red panties underneath that tiny, little skirt. You look awesome," he finished, finding her lips again.

"Do you think I could be a Cheerio again?" Quinn whispered, a plan half forming in her clouded brain.

"I think you look the part," Puck replied carefully. "I know you're strong enough," he saw her working out every day, "I think the hardest thing you'll have to do is convince Crazy Sue that she can't win without you," he leaned up on one elbow, looking at her, his other hand stroking across her toned, tanned abs, "do you really want to jump on that crazy train again?" he asked, searching her eyes.

"Yes," she whispered, tears pooling in her eyes. "I know I'm in Glee Club," she said as she almost laughed, "but I miss being part of a _winning_ team. I want to be on top again, prove to everyone that I _can_ do it and that having Beth with you hasn't completely ruined my life," she looked up as she finished speaking, hoped that he understood without her having to say it.

"And by 'everyone' you actually mean your parents?" he asked. Yeah, he got it. Puck nodded, his hand stilling on her stomach. "Do they even really matter anymore?" he asked. "They haven't been there for you, they abandon you whenever they feel like it, does it really matter what they think?"

"To me it does," Quinn admitted quietly. "I want to prove to them that I can do it all. Be a mother, be a cheerleader and be in Glee. You'll still be in Glee, won't you? You're not going to leave the club now that you don't have to keep an eye on me anymore, are you?" she asked.

"Nah," Puck smiled, "I'm not leaving. It'll be hard enough to get someone to replace Matt, we're not exactly the most popular group in school, kids aren't queuing up to join us. And besides," he dipped to drop a kiss on her shiny lips, "I like singing with you."

"I like singing with you too," Quinn said shyly. "I like watching you, when you're singing a song you've picked," she sighed and thought twice and then a third time before deciding to just tell him. "You're hot, Puckerman, when you sing you make me melt."

Puck's slow smile lit up his face. He hadn't been imagining it, she really did like it when he sang. He'd never been sure before if it had been baby hormones or maybe even a little bit of jealousy, especially when he'd sung with Mercedes, but he'd always caught a hint of something in her eyes, the sexy little way she bit her lip. Hot. "Cool," he answered, "maybe we can ask Mr Schuester if we can do a duet together, give Frankenteen and Poison-Berry a run for their money, what do you say?"

"I think it sounds like a plan," she said before reaching to give him a peck on the cheek. "And now I'm really tired, I'm going to go get ready for bed."

Puck watched her walk to the bathroom, her robe around her. He laid back on the bed, his hands under his head. This night wasn't exactly turning out the way he'd planned. He sighed heavily. As the bedroom door opened again and Quinn came in dressed in her summer pj's, tiny shorts and a little sleeveless top, he watched her walk all the way round the room, touching things, picking things up.

"Remember when you did that video for Rachel and they filmed you in here?" she asked looking round the room. "I was a bit hurt that you made sure everything of mine was hidden away, out of sight," she sat down heavily on the end of the bed. "I thought it was because you didn't want to remind anyone that I was living here with you, that you were stuck with me," she looked up, her fingers twiddling absently with a loose thread on the patchwork quilt. "That wasn't it, was it?" she asked.

Puck shook his head. "It was a way of protecting you," he admitted. "Everyone knew you lived here but they didn't know we shared a room, a bed. No one knew. I didn't want you to feel any more different from the other kids at school than you already did. I wanted to make things easier for you to go back to normal once everything was over," he huffed a little laugh, "not that I ever wanted it to be over and I'm so glad it isn't. Having Beth is the best thing that's ever happened to me. It's changed my life, she's changed my life. I have a decent job, a relationship with my dad that I never thought would happen and we have the most beautiful, perfect baby ever."

"The only thing missing is my family," Quinn sighed as she crawled up the bed to lie down next to Puck. "I still wish they were in my life, they're still my family," she said quietly.

Puck turned onto his side to tuck her up to him, pulling her back up close to his chest. "Maybe we should call and see them tomorrow, take Beth to meet them, give them another chance?" he offered. He didn't really expect the Fabrays to be any more welcoming but if this was what Quinn needed to do he would support her.

"Mmm," she nodded, considering his suggestion. "They go to morning service every Sunday so they should be back by eleven. Maybe we could even have brunch with them. Mom always makes a wonderful brunch on Sundays," she smiled to herself, hunching up, remembering pleasant past Sundays spent as a family around the table in the kitchen, eating bacon and sausage, she savoured the memory of the smell of bacon cooking. "Maybe brunch wouldn't be such a good idea," she said now.

Puck looked down at the back of Quinn's head almost in disbelief. He wasn't quite sure where the picture perfect ending was coming from in Quinn's mind, but he really hoped that she wouldn't be too upset tomorrow if her parents did what they seemed to do best. Let her down.

Quinn dressed Beth in her beautiful pink and white frilly dress, she had matching frilly pants to cover her diaper, her little socks and shoes were pink and white and around her head she had a white scrunchie headband. She didn't need it to keep her hair in place, they used the headbands to keep her hearing aids secure. Quinn bustled about getting her bag ready, a couple of changes of clothes in case they ended up staying all day, bottles, diapers, the changing bag actually needed to be a bottomless pit to fit everything in that Quinn wanted to take.

"Don't you think this is maybe overkill?" Puck asked as he hefted the bag into the back seat along with Beth.

"No, if they turn out to be as unwelcoming as they have in the past we'll go visit with your Nana and Grandpa," Quinn said brightly. "Either way we're out for the day," she grinned.

"Ok that's cool," Puck said as he got in behind the wheel. "Are you ready for this?" he asked checking his mirrors before setting off. "Is that my dad?" he asked as a car slowed on the street. "What's he doing here? Leah's at Aunt Freda's and he already knows we're going out for the day because I heard you telling him when he called this morning. Flowers? Are they for my mom? Ohh," Puck caught on. "We'll get out of here. If we have to go spend the day at the park or something we'll make sure they have time alone. Right?"

"Did you know that your parents actually started dating twenty-one years ago today?" Quinn asked Puck as they drove towards her former home. "That's the significance of today."

"Who would remember what date they actually started dating?" Puck asked, puzzled. "Birthdays, I get. Don't miss the birthday. Wedding anniversaries too, don't miss the anniversary, but the date you started _dating_?" he pulled a face and made a dismissive noise. Then he looked over at Quinn who was sat with her arms folded, head cheerleader face on and wished he hadn't. "Crap," he muttered. "I'm going to regret that, aren't I?" he asked. "Wait, why am I worrying, we aren't even dating," he exclaimed.

"As close as," Quinn countered, her head moving diva style.

"Trust me," Puck replied, "if we were dating we wouldn't have stopped at just a few kisses last night."

"Well, maybe it's time we _were_ dating then," Quinn shot back, her voice verging on angry.

"Alright then," Puck's voice rose too. "Now we're dating."

"Fine," Quinn shouted.

"Fine," Puck shouted back.

They drove on in silence.

"Was that our first argument?" Puck asked, trying not to smile.

Quinn laughed slightly, her head down to hide the smile. "Yeah, it probably was," she replied. "Now tell me the date," she said.

"It's the….it's Sunday the…..crap, I don't know, I haven't had to write the date since school let out for the summer," Puck complained.

"It's August 29th and we are now officially dating," Quinn said. "Now tell me you won't remember it."

Puck glanced at her, his face showed exactly what he thought of that plan. "That's your idea of getting me to remember a date?" he asked. "Tell me we're dating then argue about it with me?" he drew in a deep breath and shook his head. "I don't think that's going to work and I'm not promising to remember what the date is today. Unless something huge happens, I'm probably going to forget," he nodded firmly. He drove on wondering what plan she'd come up with next to make him remember the date.

"Well, we're here," Puck said as he drew up outside the Fabray home. "Sure you still want to do this?" he asked. "You might be setting yourself up for a disappointment."

"I'm sure," Quinn replied. "We have to at least give them another try, let them be involved with Beth if they want to be, they are her grandparents after all," she reminded him.

"Ok, let's go," he sighed, getting out of the car and going to the back for Beth's stroller. Quinn unfastened Beth from her car seat. Once she was strapped into the stroller Puck took the heavy changing bag and slung it underneath the seat. "Ready?" he asked, taking charge of the stroller and pushing Beth towards an unknown welcome.

Quinn rang the bell and stood on the doorstep waiting. They heard the tap of Judy Fabray's high heels on the tile of the hall. Judy almost jumped when she opened the door and saw who was on the other side of it.

"Yes?" she asked, her hands clasped in front of her. "Can I help you Quinn?" Judy's very formal tone did not give the impression that this impromptu visit was going to go well.

"I..we.." Quinn stuttered.

"Yes Quinn? Spit it out," Judy said with a fake smile and faked interest.

Puck decided to step in. "See?" he said turning to Quinn. "Christian people aren't as good at forgiving and forgetting as Jewish people, I told you that. Now do you believe me?" he asked, knowing that Judy Fabray would never allow that to be the case.

"Why, It's wonderful of you to come to visit, Quinn," Judy's icy smile did not reach her eyes. "With your," she tried to keep the disgusted expression from her face, "daughter," then Judy looked Puck up and down as though trying to decipher what he actually was. "And her father. How lovely," she said, her tone totally insincere.

"Good morning Mrs Fabray," Puck smiled widely. "As it's the last Sunday before we go back to school, we thought we'd stop by to visit," he tilted the stroller back a little to see Beth's face, "bring Beth for you to meet her properly," he grinned down at Beth who smiled back and gurgled. "Because you want to meet your grandma and grandpa Fabray, don't you? Yes you do," he said in the stupid baby voice that always made Quinn cringe.

"We thought it would be nice to bring Beth to meet you," Quinn said to her mother. Judy didn't hear her, she was focused on the fact that Beth had shifted her head towards Quinn when she spoke. The baby wasn't deaf anymore. She could hear. Judy smiled happily.

"Come in, come in," she urged them, almost in tears. Oh, how she had waited for this day. A new perfect child to nurture and bring up perfectly, to keep perfect and not allow anything _imperfect_ to enter her world. "When are you coming home Quinn?" she asked almost breathlessly. "Your room is ready for you, I just need to make a nursery in the guest room for this little angel then you can come home," Judy bent and hugged Quinn. "You don't need to get too involved Noah if you don't want, I know the last few months have been hard on you, both of you. But you're here now," Judy's voice got more and more excited, faster.

"Woah, slow down lady," Puck said, "Quinn isn't coming back here to stay, we came to visit, for you to get to know your granddaughter, whose existence you've ignored for the last three and a half months. That's it, and trust me, I am involved in every single part of my daughter's life. Every part."

Judy took a step back and tried to control her breathing, she was getting way too excited. She had to be more in control. Take control. Control. Deep breath. "I'm sorry," she said calmly. "I know, I got a little ahead of myself there, a little excited. I apologise. Would you like some tea?" she asked.

"Iced tea would be lovely mom, thank you." Quinn replied politely, nudging Puck to do the same.

Puck was busy watching the change in Judy Fabray. Since when had Dudley Road, Lima, Ohio been in Stepford? "Sure, Iced tea, lovely," he answered, distracted.

"Come through here," she lead them to the kitchen where Russell Fabray sat reading the paper, his coffee cup almost empty. "Russell, see who's come to visit with us?" she said brightly.

Russell glanced up at his wife's face before smiling, genuinely smiling at Quinn. Puck kept his eye on Judy. She seemed to be one highly strung individual. She'd probably benefit from a visit from the Chronic Lady.

"Quinn," he said, his arms held wide to her, "sweetheart, I've missed you so much," Russell's voice almost broke as he held Quinn's head to his shoulder.

"I've missed you too dad," Quinn managed to whisper before any tears fell. "This is Puck, Noah Puckerman, my…." she finished, not quite sure what to say.

"Boyfriend. Her boyfriend," Puck smiled holding his hand out to shake Quinn's dad's hand.

Russell nodded at Puck. "Puck. I bet that's what my daughter calls you, right?" he asked, smiling at Quinn again. She nodded to her dad that she did. "Then if it's alright with you, I'll call you the same. Puck."

"And this is my daughter, do you want to meet her?" Quinn asked, almost shyly. "Beth," Quinn crouched in front of the stroller and signed as well as saying her name. "This is your Grandpa Fabray," Quinn used the sign for 'grandpa' and then finger spelled 'Fabray'. "We're still learning sign, it's hard but, if we use it all the time then when she's older she'll just use it without thinking about it."

"But she turned?" Judy sounded accusing, disbelieving and incredulous all at the same time. "How did she turn if she still can't hear? You tricked me," she shouted. "You tricked me into thinking she was normal now. Get out. Get out and take your thi…" she pointed at Beth.

"Don't," warned Puck, stepping right up to Judy with his finger pointed at her, stopping her words. "You can insult me all you want, it doesn't hurt me, but don't ever, _EVER _insult my daughter again. Come on Quinn, we're out of here," he turned and took Beth's stroller back to the front door, yanking it open and pushing her out and towards his car. Quinn was slower to follow. Puck turned back to see Russell in his motorised wheelchair at the door with Quinn holding on to her hands as she was trying to pull them free. "Quinn," he called again as he shut the door, Beth now safely in her car seat. He put the stroller in the back then went back for Quinn. "Are you ready?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said through her tears. "I'm sorry dad, I know she'll make you suffer later. I'll call Thea, see if she can come over, maybe, I don't know, daddy, I'm sorry, I have to go," Quinn bit back a sob as she turned and ran to the car. "Drive, just drive," she told Puck. "Go, get me away from here, get me away from her," Quinn dissolved into tears, uncontrollable tears.

"Are you ok?" Puck asked, not really sure what to do if she said she wasn't.

"I will be," Quinn replied, trying to take deep breaths to control her emotions. "I have to call my sister, she can usually get mom out of a strop, otherwise she'll make dad's day hell. Quinn took her phone out and found her sister's number. "Thea? It's me, yeah we just tried to visit, she's off on one. Can you go help smooth things over, for dad? Thanks. Yeah, I know I'm an idiot for trying, you don't need to tell me. Well, thanks, Thea, there's no need to be like that. Oh, forget it, you're just the same as her," Quinn ended the call and growled in frustration. "They're both the same, my mom and my sister. They're both,,,urgh" she grunted. "And it's my dad who'll suffer. She'll 'forget' to give him his pain meds. She'll 'forget' to change his bag and then when the nurse comes in tomorrow he'll be rushed into hospital again. This is all my fault. Why did I want to go visit? Why did I think this would be a good idea? How much of an idiot am I?" she stopped when she ran out of steam.

"Hey," Puck said loud enough for her to hear over the thoughts whirling round her head. "Hey, are you ok now? We're never taking Beth back there, you know that, right? She's never going to be good enough for your mother," he hated even saying that, Judy Fabray wasn't good enough for his daughter was nearer to the truth.

"I know, I'm done with her," Quinn agreed, shaking but feeling a weight lifting off of her. "I just have to find a way to spend time with my dad without her finding out," she mused.

"We'll work on it," Puck promised. "Let's go see Nana and Grandpa, take Beth to see someone who loves her,"

"My dad will love her," Quinn promised, "just as soon as he gets the chance." And she knew she had to find a way to make that happen.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: No claim to ownership of the original Glee characters. I take responsibility for the rest of it though.**

**Some snippets of Glee scenes, changed round and altered but possibly recognisable. I don't own those either.**

**A/N: Apologies in advance for a rather offensive line in this chapter (from Grandpa Mo). It isn't my view in any way, shape or form, it just seemed to fit how the character might have said something and in years gone by, possibly not even thought of as offensive.**

"What's the deal with your dad in the wheelchair?" Puck asked as they pulled up at his Nana's house. "I never knew about that," he said. He was curious because it was a fairly big thing and he'd have thought with all that they'd shared over the last ten months or so that Quinn would have told him about it.

"Eight years ago, well, nearer nine years ago now," Quinn began, "my dad and my sister were involved in a car accident. My dad was paralysed from the waist down and my sister lost her right arm below the elbow. There was another car involved too and someone else was paralysed," she took a deep breath before continuing. "There were some details of the accident that only very few people knew. I realised while we were rehearsing Proud Mary, when Artie was telling us how he lost the use of his legs, that his mom's car was the other one involved. The accident was my dad's fault. He'd been drinking, probably to escape my mother," she hiccupped a teary laugh, "you might have noticed she's a little…."

"Unhinged? Deranged?" Puck offered. "Or maybe just bat-shit crazy? What's her deal anyway?" he asked, getting out of the car.

"She just needs to have perfection and order in her life to be able to function," Quinn shrugged. "And now we've all let her down."

"She doesn't get any more chances," Puck insisted. "Just so we're clear on that. None."

Quinn nodded her agreement. She felt exactly the same. Judy had been given a fair enough chance, she had chosen not to accept it. "Please don't say anything to Artie about my dad being the one," Quinn pleaded. "I'd hate for him to know that, and he doesn't need to, he's adjusted well and it won't bring back the use of his legs if he knows, will it?" she asked.

"Fine, I won't say anything," Puck agreed, he rubbed Quinn's shoulders as she stood in front of him, her bright eyes doing things to his insides that should be illegal. "Ok baby," Puck said to Beth as he turned and lifted her from her car seat. "Let's go see Nana Connie," he kissed her head and brought her close to his chest carrying her up the drive to his Nana's house.

Connie Puckerman opened the door, surprised to see her grandson and his family. "Hello sweetie," she smiled at Beth, taking her hands and dancing them around. "Have you come to visit Nana?" she asked Beth, nodding at her. "And Grandpa?" she nodded and smiled again at Beth. "And Grandpa's having a really good day today. I'm so glad you're here Noah," she looked up at Puck. "The lucid days are getting fewer, I'm glad you're here for this one."

"Me too, Nana," Puck said quietly as he bent to kiss Connie's cheek. "Let's go see Great Grandpa," he said to Beth. As soon as he walked into the room, he could see confusion starting to cloud the elderly gentleman's eyes. "Hi Grandpa, how are you today?" he asked.

"Ethan?" Moshe Puckerman asked, confused. "Ethan, whose baby is that? Where's Noah? Is that Noah? Why did you dress him in pink? You trying to make him queer or something? You're not Miriam. Who're you? If you're another nurse you can just get out. GET OUT," he bellowed at Quinn.

Quinn was startled, taken aback. Beth was frightened and cried. Quinn took Beth from Puck and took her out of the room. Puck stayed with his Grandpa. "Grandpa, it's me, Noah," he said quietly, sitting on the low footstool at the side of Mo's chair and taking hold of his hand. "Ethan's son, Noah," he tried again. He felt sad and disappointed that his Grandpa's mind hadn't stayed clear long enough for him to remember Beth. He was worried for his Nana too. There were times recently that Mo had been almost violent in his outbursts and they were aimed at the woman who was giving up almost everything in her life to take care of him.

"Noah?" Grandpa Mo asked, his fingers tightening on the hand that held his. "When did you get here?" he asked.

"Just a couple of minutes ago, Grandpa," Puck lied softly as he smiled at him. "I brought Beth and Quinn with me, do you want to see them?" he asked. Mo nodded. Puck turned and called over his shoulder for Quinn to bring Beth to see Great Grandpa. "Beth has her hearing aids now Grandpa, she can hear you if you talk to her," he told him.

"Hi," Quinn said from just inside the doorway, Beth held in her arms.

"Oh, she's a beautiful baby, Noah," Mo sighed. "She looks just like my little sister. She was deaf you know, Riva. They put her away in an institution. Bad place. Bad. She never came out of there. Accident they said, but it wasn't. She was six," Mo seemed to be clear about his distant past but seemed to have forgotten that Beth was deaf too, despite Puck just mentioning her hearing aids. Puck looked at Quinn in surprise. Neither of them had heard about this before. Maybe it was genetics that had caused Beth's deafness, a family trait.

A couple of hours later they left Nana's house. Mo had slipped away from them again and become someone no one really recognised. Mo's sister had arrived to spend time helping out. Puck hadn't really realised how many family members pulled together, rallied round and stepped in to help look after his grandfather. He was glad his Nana didn't have it all to do on her own. He knew his mom came over a couple of nights a week to sit up with Mo, to make sure Nana could go to bed and just sleep instead of being half awake all night in case Mo wandered off as he had done a few times before or like he tried a couple of nights ago, to start cooking something then forgetting about it and leaving the kitchen. Puck shuddered to think what might have happened if his great Aunt Eva hadn't been there. He drove them to the park. It was still early so they didn't want to go home yet. Puck took his phone from his pocket and called Aunt Freda.

"Hi, honey," she said as she answered. "Did you see Grandpa today?" she asked.

"Yeah, we did," Puck replied. "At one point he thought I was my dad and Beth was me," he said with a sigh. "Anyway, I wondered if you had Aunt Eva's number. Grandpa said something today about having a sister who was deaf and I just thought Aunt Eva might remember, maybe tell us a bit more, maybe find out if it's a hereditary thing, you know?"

To Quinn who was sitting quietly nearby with Beth in her arms, absently stroking her daughter's back, Puck sounded tired, defeated, as though the joy had been sucked out of him. He told his Aunt Freda what Grandpa had said about his sister and the institution. The thing that disturbed Quinn the most was that Beth would have faced the same fate if she had been born in that time.

"Sure Noah, I have Aunt Eva's number," Aunt Freda replied. "You know, there's a vague memory of hearing that story before, buried way at the back of my brain. I can't quite recall the details, but I'm sure it was all reported at the time. Here let me give you Aunt Eva's number…." Puck saved the number to Quinn's phone as his aunt read the digits out, she hung up after passing on the number.

"How are you feeling right now?" Quinn asked. "We had a weird night then today's been strange too. I feel tired. What about you?"

"Yeah, I feel tired," Puck agreed. "And tomorrow we start school again. I have to remember to let the new football coach know that I can't make Thursday practice. We have to take Beth for her new ear moulds. I can't believe her ears grow so fast, they still look tiny to me," he grinned at Beth leaning towards her and kissing the end of her nose. "When are you going to see Coach Sylvester?" he asked.

"I'm hoping to see her tomorrow," Quinn replied, feeling the nerves kicking in already. "I've no idea how she's going to react but I've got something in my back pocket, ammunition to use, just in case she says no."

"What's that?" Puck asked, lying back on the grass, getting comfortable.

Quinn laid Beth between them on the mat from her changing bag, then lay herself down on her side, her head propped up on her hand, watching Beth play with her feet, trying to put them both in her mouth. "I'd rather not say," Quinn murmured, pulling off Beth's shoes and socks.

Puck rolled to his side to face Quinn, his interest ignited. "Why?" he asked, smiling. "Have you got dirt on one of the Cheerios? Something that'll get someone kicked off the team? Come on, tell me, you know I can make you," he grinned, eyes wide, reaching over as if to tickle her.

"Well," Quinn began, not meeting his gaze. "I happen to know that Coach Sylvester has a strict 'no plastics' policy and I also happen to know that someone, I'm not saying who, over the summer has had erm…enhancement surgery," she shrugged, still focusing on Beth.

"You're going to snitch on Santana?" Puck laughed. "Queen Bitch is back," he said, sounding so impressed by it. "Cool."

"I never said it was Santana," Quinn tried to backtrack.

Puck made a noise and looked at Quinn like she was nuts. "You didn't have to, I saw her yesterday too remember, and trust me," he grinned, "I have known those boobs since they were less than a handful and let me tell you, there's a lot more to them now," he nodded appreciatively. Puck held his hand up and gauged the size, glancing towards Quinn's chest. "I'd say she's about a…" he shut his eyes for a second, concentrating, his hand moving about, squeezing an imaginary boob, "…a 34C."

"Puckerman, you have a one track mind," Quinn grumbled, annoyed that he was probably right. "So what size am I?" she asked, pushing her chest towards him a little. "Without touching," she warned as his hand came very close to copping a feel.

"You just want me to show off my one and only talent, don't you?" he laughed. "Well, Miss Fabray, Dr Puckerman says that you are exactly a….." he closed one eye as he made his assessment, his hand just in front of his face still making a squeezing motion, "…..a 38B," he grinned. He twitched an eyebrow at Quinn. "Well? How did I do?" he asked.

"Spot on, pervert," grumbled Quinn. "How can you be so accurate? It's just not normal," she told him.

"Insider information," Puck admitted, leaning forward to whisper in her ear, taking the opportunity to glimpse down the open neck of her dress. "If you will leave bras lying around the bedroom you've no one to blame but yourself. And FYI, my favourite one is the black one with tiny red hearts on it," he grinned right into her face. "Pushes your boobs right up. Awesome," he sighed happily.

Quinn tried to force the smile to stay hidden but failed. "Like I said," she looked up at him through her eyelashes, "pervert."

They felt the first spots of rain start to fall. Puck jumped up as the sky darkened almost immediately. "Let's get back to the car," he said, picking Beth and her changing bag up as the heavens opened. Quinn followed him with the stroller as he almost ran to the parking lot. By the time they had Beth fastened into her seat and everything stowed away safely, they were both drenched.

"Well, I think we should just head on home," Puck said, looking through the windscreen at the sky, his arms crossed over the steering wheel. "They should have had enough time by now to talk or whatever." Quinn agreed fastening her seatbelt.

Ethan's car was parked in front of the garage when they arrived at home. Puck looked at Quinn, one eyebrow raised, nodding. "He's still here anyway," he said. He parked beside his dad's car, collected the stroller from the back of the car and the changing bag while Quinn carried Beth. They both noticed how quiet the house was from the second they walked in through the front door. The place appeared deserted. "Hello-o" called Puck. "Anybody home? Mom? Dad?" he shouted and waited for a reply. They both heard a muffled thud and frantic scrabbling from upstairs. Puck turned to Quinn, a knowing look on his face. He nodded towards the kitchen, motioning her to follow him.

A few moments later Miriam and Ethan, both quite breathless and looking untidily dressed came in to join them. "Hello," Miriam said, sounding surprised, smoothing her hair down. "I didn't know you were back," she bustled past them to the coffee pot. "Would you like coffee, Ethan?" she asked, her voice polite in the extreme.

"Errm, mom," Puck said quietly, trying his very best not to burst out laughing.

"Yes, dear," Miriam replied, looking or at least attempting to look like a picture of innocence although not actually making any eye contact with her son.

"You might want to take a bit more care when you're dressing in future," Puck sniggered, unable to hold it back any longer. "Your shirt is inside out," he laughed out loud at the look on his mom's face, "and dad," he nodded towards his dad's pants, "Puck jr's going to escape if you're not careful," he laughed even louder as his dad automatically went to zip up pants that were more than a little open. "Caught, red handed, don't even _try _to deny it," he accused his parents, still laughing.

"Noah, it's not what it looks like," Miriam tried to explain, clearly embarrassed.

"Yes it is," Puck corrected her. "You both felt like reliving some past memories," he shrugged, smiling. "I get it, it's cool, doesn't mean you're back together, not if you don't want to be. But just so you know, me and Leah wouldn't object, ok?" he winked at them both and smiled before he walked away to get both him and Quinn a drink of soda.

Ethan stayed for the rest of the afternoon and evening, picking up dinner for them all when he and Puck went out to collect Leah from Freda's house. It was a very nice, fun, relaxing, family evening.

The first day of school was strange. Quinn spent almost the entire morning in a state of excited nervousness. At lunchtime she was caught unawares at her locker by Jacob ben Israel asking a stupid question about how she felt after the birth of her daughter and, of all things, about breast milk. Despite making the decision last night before they went to bed that they wouldn't tell anyone yet that they were dating, Puck overheard the question and immediately jumped to Quinn's defence.

"Hey," he shouted at Jacob, grabbing his attention but at the same time causing a lot of passing students to look their way. "Don't talk to my girlfriend that way," he said as he caught Quinn up in a hug, making her feel protected.

"You're right," Jacob agreed, although not quite apologising. "I was out of line. So, are you still living together?" he asked brightly, trying another tack.

"Get lost jerk," Puck snarled, shoving the camera away. He turned to look at Quinn. "Are you ok?" he asked. Quinn nodded, almost back in control of her emotions. "Did you see Coach Sylvester yet?" he asked.

Quinn shook her head. "I have an appointment with her at 1.30," she bit her lip nervously. "Do you think she'll have me back?" she asked, needing some sort of reassurance.

"She'd be an idiot not to," Puck replied, trying to give Quinn the boost she needed. "I talked to Coach Beiste," he told Quinn, "she's cool about Thursday's practice. I told her it would probably be every three weeks or so, at least till Beth's ears stop growing so much or she has the implant."

"That's another thing to talk to Coach Sylvester about," Quinn muttered almost to herself. "She?" Quinn finally registered what Puck had said. "Your new football coach is a she?" she asked, surprised. "What happened to the sub who's been working with you all for the last couple of weeks? I thought he'd have taken Coach Tenaka's place."

"I did too but when we got to practice this morning there was Coach Beiste, waiting for us. She took her last team to state championships and won, maybe we can actually win a couple of games this year," Puck said hopefully. In truth, McKinley Titans needed all the help they could get. In five years under the leadership of Coach Tenaka, they had won precisely one game. One. And that had been with Kurt's assistance, teaching the team the Single Ladies dance that knocked the other team off guard leaving them open for Puck to steal a touchdown. Puck grinned as he remembered that night, he winked at Quinn. "Remember what happened when we got 'locked' in the bathroom at Brittany's party the night we won the game?" he nodded, a far away look in his eyes. "Oh yeah," he smiled.

Quinn looked up at him. "Seriously?" she asked. "I'm standing here shivering, a nervous wreck and you want to talk about when we were sneaking around and cheating on my boyfriend and your girlfriend? Urgh," she growled. "Sometimes, Puckerman, I just want to hit you. Urgh."

"Took your mind off it though, right?" Puck asked, smiling. "It's time to go meet Coach Sue. Want me to come with you? Moral support? I'll wait outside," he offered.

"Yeah," Quinn whispered, grateful for the support then launched herself at Puck for a hug before they went to Coach Sylvester's office.

From just around the corner Puck couldn't hear what was being said in the office. A few times he heard raised voices but couldn't make anything out. He felt almost as nervous as Quinn. What if Sue Sylvester refused to allow Quinn back on the squad? How would she feel? How would he be able to make her feel better? He was lost in his own thoughts and jumped when he felt a soft hand on his arm.

"Waiting for me?" Santana asked, her smile both flirty and knowing. "I knew you wouldn't be able to stay away much longer, Quinn still not putting out for you?" she looked Puck up and down and sucked in a deep breath. "It's such a waste," she sighed, her hand trailing down Puck's chest. "But you're here now, want to get naked with me?" she grinned.

"No, I'm waiting for Quinn," Puck replied, removing Santana's hand from near his belt. "And whether me and Quinn get it on or don't, it's none of your business, so just butt out and leave us alone," he thrust away from the wall he'd been leaning on and barged past Santana to meet Quinn who had just come out of Coach Sylvester's office carrying a new uniform still wrapped in plastic. Coach Sylvester followed her out.

"Ah, Sandbags," Coach Sylvester called, pointing at Santana. "You're off the team. I can't work with girls who don't feel good enough about themselves to stay natural. If you wanted bigger boobs you should have done what Stretchmarks here did," she pointed at Quinn, "got pregnant. It worked for her, bigger boobs and all natural. I'm sure the Sperminator here," she pointed at Puck, "would be happy to oblige. Thanks for the info, Q," she said as she walked off in the other direction, totally dismissing from her mind the people that she had just insulted.

Puck had only a second's warning that Santana was in attack mode. He heard the screech and only just barely managed to grab her as she flew at Quinn. "You told Coach Sylvester about my summer surgery," she accused Quinn, tears of temper in her eyes, trying to fight her way free of Puck's grip.

"That's right, I did," Quinn confirmed, not feeling the slightest bit guilty. She felt it was payback for all the times Santana had shafted her in the past year. She knew it was Santana who had leaked information to Jacob ben Israel about her pregnancy, which led to her being kicked off the squad last year. "And I'd do it again too. If you didn't feel good enough before the surgery then you damn well won't be good enough after it. Changing how you look isn't going to solve anything. You won't ever be me, you won't ever have my life, stop trying to imitate it," she advised. Quinn held her hand out for Puck to take.

Puck let Santana go, the fight draining out of her as she sank to her knees in the hallway, crying, sobbing uncontrollably. He took Quinn's hand but he didn't walk away. He felt really bad for Santana. He knew she'd always envied the life that she thought Quinn had. He sighed and let go of Quinn's hand. He bent down and pulled Santana into his arms, staying crouched down with her. He looked up at Quinn's unforgiving face as he tried to comfort Santana. "Come on, Quinn," he sighed. "She feels like she not only lost her guy but she lost her best friend too. To each other. Can't you feel just a little bit sorry for her?" he shook his head and looked back to Santana. "Hey, come on, get a grip Satan," he smiled, using his years old nickname for her. "You know you don't really want to get with me, I'm too selfish, only think about myself," he winked up at Quinn. She knew that was total rubbish. Puck thought about everyone else before he thought about himself, he was just good at hiding it.

Santana finally managed to get herself together, she pulled away from Puck. "Thanks," she mumbled, sniffing, looking at the floor. "And you're right," she said to Quinn. "I am jealous of you, all you have. You made the ultimate mistake and yet you still come out of it with the sun shining on you. It's not fair, why is your life so good and mine is so crappy?" she sobbed again with her hand over her mouth. "All I ever wanted was to be loved, appreciated, not ridiculed and tolerated," she looked at both Puck and Quinn, saw them stood together, holding hands. "When is it _my _turn? When do I get the chance? Huh?" she asked, dissolving into tears again.

Quinn had heard enough self-pity. "You think my life is so easy?" she demanded. "You think it's easy to be me? You think being a sixteen-year-old mom is a breeze? Leaving her this morning to come to school was bad enough. I don't know how I'm going to deal with her having major surgery in just a few months. You think all that is easy? _Your_ life is easy, you wouldn't know a hard life if it jumped up and bit you on the ass. Get over it Santana, move on, we have," she said, turning to walk away, taking Puck's hand again. When they turned, Puck and Quinn saw they were faced with a large group of students who had gathered silently to watch the outburst. They'd heard everything. Jacob ben Israel was there with his camera and his microphone. He leaped to the front.

"What-what surgery?" he asked, stuttering a little in the face of Puck's scowl. "Is it true your daughter came out a lizard baby?" he asked. "Is that what the surgery's for? To make her normal?" he asked.

That was too much for Puck. He rushed at Jacob, picked him up over his shoulder and marched to the school entrance, with Jacob screaming like a girl the whole way. Luckily for Puck they'd been followed by a whole host of students, Finn, Mike and several others from the football team too. Finn held Jacob, still screaming and begging to be released, while Puck attached him and his underwear to the flagpole. Between them they hoisted Jacob well over half way up the pole before the new football coach stopped them.

"What is going on here?" Coach Beiste yelled.

"Erm, I believe that is what's commonly called a patriotic wedgie," Artie informed the huge woman at his side. "It's where they hoist your undies to the top of the flagpole, while you're still wearing them," he advised.

Coach Beiste looked down at Artie in his wheelchair. "I can see that," she told him.

"Oh," Artie answered very quietly, looking slightly embarrassed.

"Freeze," Coach shouted. "All of you. You, you, you, here, front and centre. Now. Explain yourselves," she demanded.

Puck sighed, heading out to the very front. He held his hand up. "It was me Coach," he admitted. "These other guys were just helping me," he said looking at Finn, Mike and the other guys. "He," Puck nodded towards Jacob, still flying at half mast, "insulted my daughter and that's happened just once too often this last couple of days." Puck turned to face the crowd of cheering students. "Alright, so Beth is deaf, she has hearing aids and in a few months will be having a cochlear implant, it doesn't mean she's not normal," he shouted, making sure everyone got the picture. He turned back to Coach Beiste. "I guess I'm off the team now, right?" he asked, resigned to being in even more trouble with his mom.

"Nope," Coach Beiste replied. "He really insulted your daughter? How old is she again?" she asked, Puck had told her something earlier when he'd mentioned the appointments but she hadn't been fully listening.

"She's three and a half months old," Puck answered. "And she's amazing, she may not be able to hear anything if she doesn't have her hearing aids in, but she notices stuff, she watches stuff…"

Coach nodded and held up a hand again. "Alright, I get it, your baby is amazing. That's fantastic. Now get him down from there," she told Puck.

Puck looked over his shoulder and nodded to the others to let Jacob down and release him.

"Now," Coach Beiste said as she folded her arms and rocked on the balls of her feet. "I don't expect you to have learned anything from this," she told Jacob. "You'll probably spend your entire life being an annoying ass, that's just the way some people get their kicks. And as for you," she looked again at her gathered football team, "all of you," she made sure they understood they were all included, even the ones who hadn't helped. "Good team work. It's a start. But you're all on a warning. Any more shenanigans like this," she nodded at the flagpole again, "will not be tolerated. Starting tomorrow you're all on double conditioning runs, this was way too much like hard work for a fit, healthy football team," she announced before she walked away.

Quinn appeared at Puck's side, now dressed in her Cheerios uniform with the discreet gold 'C' just above the school crest, denoting captain. "Well, that was unexpected," she murmured. "I can see why she's called Coach Beast."

Puck looked down at Quinn as she looked up into his eyes. "Captain?" he smiled, proud of her. "And don't let Coach hear you call her that in that way. She seems pretty cool," he sighed and turned to grin at the rest of the football team. "Double conditioning runs?" he pulled a face but couldn't keep the grin from returning. "It was so worth it." Luckily for Puck they all agreed, it was a small price to pay to see Jacob ben Israel half way up the pole. They'd probably even take quadruple conditioning runs to see him at the top.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: No ownership of anything that is discernibly Glee. Original characters are my creation as is the story line that this fiction is following. The few lines from the song Separate Lives do not belong to me either.**

**A/N: Thank you to all who have followed, favourited and reviewed, it is most gratifying.**

New Directions gathered in the choir room for the last class of the day. There was still quite a bit of laughter about Jacob ben Israel's trip up the flagpole, a few high fives, and at least one person feeling quite proud of making a stand. The atmosphere in the room was good, till Mr Schuester walked through the door and started going on about how they could have gone further in the competition last year if only they'd put in a bit more effort, been a little more serious, not been under the influence of Sue Sylvester.

"Sorry for being in labour," Quinn grumbled sarcastically under her breath.

"And for now at least, we are one man down," Mr Schuester reminded them, pointedly ignoring the mumble from Quinn. "We all know Matt and his family moved away at the end of last year. We need to recruit some new members," he said and shrugged. "Otherwise we're finished."

"We have some ideas, Mr Schue," Mercedes said, looking at the whole group and receiving some nods for her to speak for them. "We're going to perform a couple of times this week during lunch break and we'll invite the students that we already know are interested in singing, to audition. Hopefully it will be enough," she smiled.

"I hope so too, Mercedes, but it's a good plan," Mr Schue nodded and smiled at her before moving to the next item on his list. "Practice schedule for this year. Every Monday and Thursday last period. Every Tuesday and Friday first class after lunch and on Wednesday its first period. Yes Puck?" he asked as he looked up to see Puck with his hand raised.

"Errm, I'm sorry Mr Schue, but me and Quinn can't make it to all of the Thursday classes," he said, hesitantly. "Beth has audiology appointments just about every three weeks. We'll be able to make some of the Thursday classes, but not all of them. Sorry," he finished, waiting for Rachel at least to make some sort of comment about them letting the team down. Strangely enough, no one did.

"Well, that can't be helped," Mr Schue sighed with a tight smile. "How is she, anyway?" he asked.

"Growing like you wouldn't believe," Puck replied, proudly. "And looking more and more like her mommy every day," he said with a smile and a wink at Quinn.

Quinn blushed and looked at the floor. She was still feeling just a touch self-conscious in her new Cheerios uniform, especially as Santana was now in street clothes and looking at her with venom in her eyes. Apparently Santana was still harbouring some resentment, especially towards Quinn.

"Does Coach Sylvester know you're ditching practice to play mommy and daddy?" she hissed, leaning towards both Puck and Quinn from two rows behind. Maybe the resentment was towards both of them.

"Yes she does," Quinn replied, her tone as stiff as her back and shoulders. "And she doesn't have a problem with it because it's for Beth."

"The new football coach is cool with it too," Puck told his team-mates.

"First song of the year," Mr Schue announced, catching everyone's attention. "I've put everyone's names into two hats, girls in this one, boys in this one. Brittany, there is no duck," he shook his head, sighing. "Anyway, it's a duet, a personal favourite of mine and each pair will get to sing it, see which pair does it best. Here we go," he smiled as he pulled the first name out of the blue hat. "Puck," he delved into the pink hat. "You're singing with…Santana," Mr Schue hid the surprise he felt when there weren't any objections. One scowl, but no objections. "Finn," he called as he picked the second boys' name. "You're singing with…..Quinn," Mr Schue was not surprised at the objections for that pairing. Or the scowls.

"The hats have spoken," Santana smirked. "Get over it, Hobbit," she said with so much relish that Quinn could barely keep herself in check. The only thing that made it possible was years and years of training, Judy Fabray style. 'Never allow anyone to know that you are angry'.

"Artie, you've drawn…..Brittany," Mr Schue watched Brittany approach Artie with caution. She still wasn't sure if he was a robot or if he was related to Stephen Hawkins. "Kurt, you get…..Mercedes. Mike and…Rachel. Tina, for now I'm afraid you're on your own, but maybe by the end of the week we'll have a new male member," Mr Schue had to turn away when he realised what he'd said, to hide the hot face he was sure that he sported. A couple of other people had realised what he'd said too and were stifling giggles. "These pairings are set in stone," he said as he wrote the song title on the white board. "No swaps, no take backs, no arguments and no, you can't choose your own song. This is the song. Separate Lives, a Phil Collins and Marilyn Martin number. Here are the lyrics, get together in your pairs and practice. Puck and Santana go first tomorrow, Finn, Quinn, you go straight after," he ended, finally able to turn around, sure that the heat had gone from his cheeks. "Any questions?" he asked. No one answered.

After they all left the room, lyric sheets in their hands, Puck spoke quietly to Finn. "Don't go getting any ideas about her, we might still be living in your world, but we're living in it together, ok?" he asked, nodding meaningfully towards Quinn who was in a huddle in the hallway with several other Cheerios being welcomed back to their ranks.

Finn rolled his eyes. "No problem dude," he smiled over Puck's head to Rachel, who was stood nervously by her locker chewing her lip and wringing her hands. "I'm with Rachel now, it's cool. I hope Santana realises the same thing about you. Quinn can be really, errm," he stopped, not sure how to put it into words.

"Scary? A maniac when she's pissed?" Puck asked, knowing what Finn meant. "Oh yeah, and the rest," he said, knowing from experience that it was true. "And we talked with Santana earlier, I think she gets it," he said, although not with any real conviction.

"So," Santana said as she slinked up to Puck at his locker when Finn drifted away to Rachel, "you and me, together again, just like old times," her voice was velvety, sultry, she gave a huge exaggerated sigh. "I hope Quinn doesn't get too," she reached up to kiss Puck's cheek, managing to find the very corner of his mouth, "jealous," she stroked her hand down Puck's chest and abs before she walked away, looking back over her shoulder and giving him a slow wink.

"Don't even think about it," Quinn ground out through her teeth, appearing at the side of Puck. "Just. Don't," she hissed.

Without a word Puck hooked his hand round the back of Quinn's neck and pulled her towards him, his tongue invaded her mouth as his lips silenced hers. Quinn wasn't sure exactly how much time had passed when Puck finally raised his head, just enough space between their lips to allow them to breathe. "As long as you remember you come home to me. Finn is history, same as Santana," he whispered. Quinn nodded, her hand had risen to grip around his wrist, needing to hold on to something to keep her feet on the ground. "And we are so doing more than just making out tonight, just so you know," his lips were almost on her ear, his breath made her shiver. Quinn didn't object. "Let's go home," he grinned, pulling Quinn by the hand towards the parking lot.

Finn came over after dinner to rehearse with Quinn. Puck called and asked Santana to come over for their rehearsal.

"What about Quinn?" Santana asked coyly.

Puck carefully worded his answer. "She's rehearsing with Finn," he said truthfully. "We have to do this tonight, ready for tomorrow. If you don't want to or you're too busy, it's cool," he said, his voice loaded with boredom, indifference. Both Finn and Quinn were watching him in fascination. They knew that Santana thought, from his few words, that they would be rehearsing alone. Yeah, like Puck was _that_ stupid.

Miriam answered the door to Santana. Puck had asked his mom to say as little as possible to her, just to direct her upstairs to his bedroom. "But it's not just _your_ room, is it Noah?" she asked. "How does Quinn feel about this?"

"Quinn's upstairs too, at the moment she's up there with Finn and that feels a bit weird," he mumbled the last part. "Santana might think she's going to be alone with me but she's not. And Quinn needs to show Santana that she can't come between us, she's not going to break us up," he shrugged. "Mr Schue picked out the names and said we weren't allowed to swap. I'd have picked to sing with Quinn to be honest, our voices go well together, but so far Mr Schue's never given us the chance."

"I hope you know what you're doing," Miriam said with a sigh. "Don't go on too late, Leah will be going to bed in a couple of hours and I'm going over to your Nana's later," she warned. "You're in charge tonight, ok?"

"Its cool mom," Puck kissed his mom's cheek before running back upstairs to hear Quinn and Finn practice the song while they waited for Santana. He sat on the bed with Beth. "What do you think baby? Should we take your hearing aids out so you don't have to listen to Finn wailing off key?" he asked, making Quinn giggle.

Santana arrived a short while later and Miriam did indeed send her straight up to Puck's bedroom. The first person Santana saw as she opened the door was Puck lounging on his bed. "So Puckerman, how do you want…..me?" Santana's husky, flirty question ended on a flat note when she opened the bedroom door further and saw Quinn and Finn stood at the end of the bed looking towards the door. "Oh," she sounded disappointed. "I didn't know you'd be here," she said to Quinn.

"I live here Santana," Quinn reminded her, "where else would I be?"

"Well, not in _this_ room," Santana replied, holding her hands out. "Maybe in your own room or something," she said, then looked around.

Quinn hid her smile. She was so going to enjoy this. After dinner she had very carefully and discreetly left a number of personal objects lying about. Stuff that you would really only keep in your bedroom. "Like I said," Quinn looked Santana in the eye, sitting down on the bed next to Puck and Beth, "where else would I be?" Quinn saw the moment when the truth dawned on Santana.

Glancing round the room, Santana saw the things that Puck had always kept in his room, his guitar, his football stuff, baseball caps, things she'd seen a hundred times. Now she also saw make up, a hair dryer and flat iron on the dresser, pink pyjamas sticking out from under the pillow, ballet flats and sandals on the shoe rack in between pairs of sneakers and combat boots, a black bra with red hearts on it draped artistically out of the laundry hamper. The stuffed lamb she'd seen in Quinn's bedroom at Dudley Road a million times, wedged at the back of the headboard so its little face looked down onto the pillows. "Would you like to check the closet and the drawers too?" she asked Santana, "make absolutely certain I live here?"

"No, I get it," Santana said in a choked voice. "You're together, totally together, a family," she sniffed, turning to watch Puck playing with Beth on the bed while he and Finn waited for the girls to sort it out. "But if you ever break up, he's fair game, right?" she tried to joke. Quinn stood and hauled Santana into her arms as they both laughed and cried together. "What's the deal with the lamb?" she asked, sniffing nodding towards the stuffed toy. "You going all soft and sensitive now you're a daddy, Puckerman?"

"Nah," Puck replied with a wink at Quinn. "It stops the headboard banging. So we're cool now?" he asked, "we can rehearse? Good, let's get this done, there's a Bones marathon on later and I want to watch it," he grinned.

Puck and Santana listened to Finn and Quinn sing their version of the song and it was good. Quinn and Finn listened to Puck and Santana and theirs was good too. Despite what Mr Schue said about not swapping, Finn and Santana tried out the song together and it was better, Quinn and Puck sang it together and it was awesome.

"What we'll do is sing with our original partners in Glee club," Finn began, "then you two sing it together at the end of the week, maybe sneak into the auditorium to do it and one of us will get Mr Schue there somehow," he grinned at everyone. "Deal?" he asked. They all agreed. Puck was really looking forward to singing properly with Quinn for once.

They took a break so Quinn and Santana went to the kitchen together to pick up drinks and snacks and for Quinn to make Beth's bottle while Puck bathed her. Miriam chatted with the girls, making sure she hugged Quinn before they went back upstairs. Miriam really wanted Santana to see that Quinn was not only an accepted part of their family but that she was loved too. Miriam really did not like Santana, she reminded her far too much of Tanya, the woman who had been instrumental in the demise of her marriage.

"So you're still not getting any?" Finn asked quietly as Puck got Beth into her sleep suit. "From what you said earlier, living together in my world, or something? What happened? Did she sober up too much on Saturday night?" he asked with the hint of a grin.

"No, I just felt like too much of an asshole for manipulating her in that way," Puck admitted. "We did talk a lot though and we decided that we are actually dating, we're together now, not just friends taking care of a baby together. But we still haven't," he stopped as he heard footsteps on the stairs. Puck leaned closer to Finn. "She doesn't know that you know that she's always shared this room with me, I told her no one knew about that, so just don't ever mention it, ok?" he whispered as the door opened. Finn nodded his agreement.

Both pairs ran through the song together one more time each before Finn and Santana left together. Miriam got Leah settled into bed then left to go to Connie's for the night as Quinn put Beth to bed.

"What time does your Bones marathon start?" Quinn asked Puck as she walked back into their room.

"No idea," Puck grinned, "I don't even know if there is one, I just thought it was a good way to make sure Finn and Santana left early enough. It's just you and me babe," he said quietly, walking towards Quinn. "I think we should probably lie down," his voice was even quieter, his gaze on her lips. "First day back at school is always tiring, we should probably have an early night."

Puck felt hope soar in his heart when Quinn's arms wrapped around his neck. He thought his heart was going to burst out of his chest when she stepped closer in to him. And when she pulled his head down for his lips to meet hers, well, one thing was for sure, he forgot to breathe.

"Lie with me," Quinn whispered, her lips still brushing against Puck's. "Lie with me, make me feel…" she finished with a squeal as Puck caught her up in his arms and carried her the couple of steps to the bed. He laid her down and came down beside her.

"I am so going to make you feel," Puck grinned, "and I'm going to feel you too, all of you," he murmured as he dipped his head to kiss her.

"Slow down a minute," Quinn whispered breathlessly, "I'm still not ready to…you know, but we can do other stuff, can't we?" she asked, watching the slight touch of disappointment flicker in Puck's eyes. "Maybe soon, but not just yet," Quinn said softly.

Puck didn't reply with words. He replied with his hands and lips. He didn't take things further than Quinn was comfortable with, but before they fell asleep they had both experienced more tenderness, more loving than they had for quite some time. Puck could honestly say that even he wasn't disappointed. Or frustrated.

On Tuesday Jacob ben Israel's blog was strangely void of information regarding his flagpole experience. Neither did it contain any information about Santana's meltdown or about Beth Puckerman and her future surgery. Maybe the underlying threat of a repeat performance from Puck had actually had an effect on the usually thick-skinned annoying dweeb.

Glee's first two performances of Separate Lives were well enough received. Rachel obviously pointed out a couple of sharp notes that she felt Quinn had hit and made a point of telling everyone that she and Finn would have made a much better job of it together. Mike was visibly quaking at the thought of having to sing with such a perfectionist instead of hiding in the background as he usually did.

"Good job guys," Mr Schue said as he clapped both pairs. "Tomorrow we'll hear from Artie and Brittany and Kurt and Mercedes," he said as the lesson ended.

After school Puck dropped Quinn off at home to go to work for a couple of hours. He and his dad had planned to spend some time together working on the truck. Puck had been looking forward to this and he'd done the design for the graphics himself. Ethan had planned the engine, sound system and bodywork upgrades. Everyone else had gone home, it was just Ethan and Puck in the workshop.

"Can I ask you something personal?" Puck asked as they were sanding the repaired bodywork smooth.

"Sure," Ethan replied, stopping work for a couple of minutes.

"Why does mom always call Tanya the 'tattooed freak'?" he asked. He knew his mom didn't have any major issues with tattoos, except when they were on her son's body, so it had always puzzled him.

Ethan didn't speak for a moment. Puck thought it might have been too personal a question and wondered if he'd destroyed the new relationship that he and his dad were having. Then Ethan answered with a wry smile. "It wasn't actually that Tanya had a tattoo that made your mom call her that, it was where it was," Ethan admitted. "And to be fair, when Miriam caught us in my office, that was pretty much the view that she got. It can't have been easy for her to see that," he ended a little sadly.

"That puts a whole lot of other pictures in my mind," Puck replied. "And to be honest, I've got a very active imagination when it comes to the female form," he admitted with a huge grin.

"Yeah well, think butterfly, a huge one that covers the whole of a _really_ interesting place," Ethan said with a wince and a glance towards his groin.

"Jeez," Puck sucked in a breath, "it stung enough on my arm, wow, Tanya had some major balls to get that done," he said, in awe.

"Your mom didn't think so," Ethan laughed. "Enough about that anyway. How are you and Quinn doing? I hope you're taking more care of her than you did before," he asked, his look questioning.

"We haven't actually got that far," Puck admitted, pulling a resigned face. "Not for months. Last time was when she was still pregnant, just before she left to stay with Mercedes. We kiss, we make out, get to third base but that's all she's comfortable with," he shrugged and sighed. "It's cool, I'll wait. I still get to sleep with her every night," he grinned, thinking of how much Quinn gave away about how she was really feeling when she was asleep in his arms, how much she really did want to, how much she was holding back. Puck knew it was only a matter of time before they were as close as the night they made Beth. Except they would be a _lot_ more careful.

Ethan followed Puck home as planned. Miriam had invited him for dinner. The atmosphere round the table was so different from a couple of years ago, even a year ago. There was laughter, fun, joking and talking, even some serious talking. Everyone got involved, including Beth with the new squeals and sounds she was making.

"Will you come with mom and Nana to watch me play soccer?" Leah asked Ethan. "It's tomorrow afternoon," she told him, her eyes hopeful.

Ethan looked to Miriam and saw her nod. "Sure I will," he smiled at his grinning daughter. "What time is it?" he asked, mentally reorganising his day to accommodate the game. Leah told him. "I can do that," he assured her.

Quinn's phone rang towards the end of the meal. It was Claudia, her father's part time nurse. "Hi Claudia," she answered nervously. "Is everything alright?" she asked, her mouth dry.

"Your dad asked me to call," Claudia replied. "Your mother is going away for a couple of days with her church group, I'll be staying with your dad while she's gone. He asked if you would come to visit."

"When?" Quinn asked quickly. "And of course we'll come, just as soon as we can," she looked at Puck with damp eyes. "My dad wants us to visit while my mom is out of town," she told him with a quivering smile. Claudia answered her question. "Yes, we can come by on Thursday after Beth's appointment," Quinn told Claudia. She looked around the table. Puck nodded his agreement, Miriam and Ethan both smiled. They knew how important it was for Quinn to be able to have a relationship with her dad, someone in her family to love Beth as they all did.

"That's wonderful Quinn," Claudia breathed a sigh of relief. "He'll be so happy, I'll see you all on Thursday, bye," she ended the call quickly.

Quinn couldn't hide the happiness she was feeling, that stayed with her for the rest of the evening. She felt such a wonderful sense of peace. To be able to have time with her dad without being under scrutiny, watching how she behaved, what she said, it was just wonderful, she couldn't wait.

Wednesday's Glee class was interesting. Artie and Brittany managed to make Separate Lives into a rap song. And it bombed. Kurt and Mercedes sang each of their parts in their own favourite style. Mr Schue insisted that Phil Collins would be distraught to hear his part sung like a show tune.

"Mike, Rachel, you're up tomorrow. Tina, you'll be with me I'm afraid," Mr Schue gave Tina a sympathetic look.

"Mr Schue," Rachel began. "Wouldn't it make more sense for you and I to sing together. We are better matched vocally after all and I think that Tina is feeling just a _little _intimidated. Aren't you Tina," Rachel asked her gleefully.

Tina was spared having to answer by Mr Schue's repeat of his words on Monday, no swaps and no take backs and also by a knock at the choir room door.

"Errm, hi," a blond guy said, hesitantly. "Are you still looking for someone to join you?" he asked, glancing round nervously at the students congregated already.

"Yes we are," Mr Schue replied with a smile, relieved that he didn't have to continue the discussion with Rachel. "Welcome, come on in. And you are?" he asked.

"Sam Evans," the blond replied, extending his hand to shake Mr Schue's. "I just moved here with my family. I'm a new kid," he joked awkwardly.

"Can you sing, Sam?" Rachel asked, giving the newcomer a searching stare.

"Ye-es," he replied uncertainly, "I was male lead in Glee in my old school," he announced, looking round and seeing the approval and the interest from the others.

"We're doing a duet this week," Mr Schue announced quickly and brought Sam up to speed. "Tina here needs a partner, how about you two get together today and practice. You can perform tomorrow after Mike and Rachel," he finished with a sigh of relief.

"Don't forget we won't be here tomorrow, Mr Schue," Puck reminded him. "Beth has to get new ear moulds."

"Not a problem, we'll see you here on Friday, right?" Mr Schue replied. "We'll have a breakdown of the week and vote on which pair has made the best job of the duet. Alright, class dismissed," he announced as the bell rang.

"Dad," Quinn whispered through her tears as she hugged him tightly, "it's so good to see you. I've missed you so much."

"I've missed you too, darling," Russell Fabray's voice was no more steady than Quinn's. "And I finally get to meet my granddaughter properly," he said, pulling away from Quinn to wave to Beth. "Claudia, this is my beautiful granddaughter, Beth Puckerman. Isn't she an angel?" he asked, looking over his shoulder at the smiling woman stood slightly away from them.

"Yes she is," Claudia said, coming forward to greet Quinn warmly and to meet Puck and Beth.

"Her full name is Bethany Quinn Puckerman," Quinn told her dad, proudly.

"Bethany?" Russell repeated. "You named her for my mother? Oh, Quinnie, thank you. Thank you so much. She would have been so proud, so thrilled."

"So me singing 'Beth' to you didn't have anything to do with her name?" Puck pouted.

"Of course it did," Quinn replied, going to hug him. "I just decided, after we learned of her problem that she could use a little extra help from above," she shrugged with a smile, "and I know my grandma will always be looking down on her, keeping her safe."

"That she will," agreed Russell. "How are you both managing? School, taking care of Beth, cheerleading?" he asked, pointing to Quinn's uniform.

"We have a lot of help," Puck admitted. "My mom watches Beth through the day when we're at school, and my aunt helps out too. We're really lucky I guess," he smiled, lifting Beth from her stroller and holding her out to Russell.

"Oh my little sweetness," Russell breathed with a shaky voice into Beth's hair. He held on to her silently, breathing in her baby scent, her uniqueness, her. "You are so special," he told Beth, looking into her eyes.

Beth watched the stranger with wary eyes. She lay silently in his lap, staring intently at him.

They had dinner with Russell and Claudia, the meal was very enjoyable. Quinn adored spending the time with her dad. Claudia came up with a plan for them to be able to meet every week.

"Your therapy sessions have moved to Saturday mornings," Claudia reminded Russell. "How about we call and see this little miss," she shook Beth's hand gently as she spoke, "when we're through at therapy?"

Quinn looked hopefully at her dad. "Can you? Please?" she begged. "It would mean so much to me," se turned to look at Puck. "Your mom won't mind my dad coming to visit, will she?" she asked quickly.

"I wouldn't have thought so," Puck replied, certain of his mom's welcoming attitude. "She loves having people come to visit," he assured Russell.

"That would be amazing," Russell nodded happily. "Thank you so much. Thank you, Claudia, I don't know how I'd get through the days without your help and support. Thank you," he repeated softly.

As soon as Beth was in bed, Quinn went down to speak to Miriam. She was more than happy for Quinn's dad to visit every Saturday. "I'm really glad that you'll have some of your family back in your life," she said as she kissed Quinn's cheek. "And how did the appointment go?" she asked after Beth.

"It was fine," Quinn nodded. "Beth has new ear moulds, they made some adjustment to the range of sound that can be transmitted through the amplifiers so Beth will hear even more now," she finished with a smile. Miriam was pleased to hear it.

"Ok," Finn whispered to Puck at his side and waved to Quinn waiting in the opposite wings. "Santana will be here any second with Mr Schue," he said as he took a peek from where he and Puck were waiting. Finn saw the chink of light at the rear of the auditorium from the doors opening to allow someone to enter. "Go," he whispered, motioning to the band to start playing. Puck took a few steps out onto the darkened, empty stage.

"You called me from the room in your hotel…." Puck began singing, looking down at the floor as he walked slowly towards centre stage. As the music grew Quinn took a few steps out from her side and walked just as slowly to meet Puck, he looked up at her, they both sang the next part.

"You have no right, to ask me how I feel…." they sang together, eyes on each other, as if they were totally oblivious to everyone else in the auditorium.

"Well I held on, to let you go…." Quinn sang, her voice strong and sure.

Together they sang the last part, facing each other, Puck's hand tenderly cradling Quinn's cheek, "Find myself looking in your eyes…"

As they reached the final line, all of their Glee team-mates stood and clapped. Mr Schue acknowledged how wrong he had been to insist on no swaps.

"That was absolute perfection, brilliant," he said as he clapped. "And Santana, can I just say how shocked I am of your part in this? Impressed but shocked. Well done," he finished, still clapping.

"Thank you," Puck called, taking an exaggerated bow. "Think we might get a chance to do a duet in the future Mr Schue? We're really good at doing stuff together," he teased, hugging Quinn close, waggling his eyebrows at the rest of the class, his smile huge.

"Oh we know that Puckerman," Santana called from just in front of the stage. "Can you put my friend down now please? We don't want her to get boy germs," she grinned and winked at Quinn.

Quinn looked up at Puck. "It's not your germs that usually make me worry," Quinn teased. "Sounds similar, but it's not germs. I hope you stocked up on condoms," she whispered. "I have a feeling you might be needing them very, very soon."

Puck's groan of appreciation was only heard by Quinn, but then again, no one else had heard what she said to him anyway. That was probably for the best, they could both do without Rachel reminding them of being safe and responsible, they'd already learned that lesson well. Really, really well.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: No claim to ownership.**

**A/N: A new turn in their relationship. Many thanks for the comments for previous chapters. I hope this chapter is as well received.**

Puck was nervous. Like _really_ nervous. He was almost shaking with nerves. He couldn't believe how nervous he actually felt. More nervous than before a big game. More nervous than stepping out on stage for a show choir competition. More nervous than when he'd had to tell his mom about Quinn. All he had to do was get out of the car, walk into the store and find what he wanted. But there were so many people about. And at this time on a Friday, most of them were his Nana's friends from temple. Guaranteed one of them would tell his Nana that they'd seen him and seen what he was buying. Quinn looked at him from the passenger seat, her expression amused.

"Well Puckerman?" she asked. "Are you going in there or not?"

"How about not right now?" Puck bargained, licking his dry lips, breathing heavily. "How about I come back later when there's less people about?" he offered, his eyes almost pleading.

"Just remember, there's no getting with this," she said, with a seductive, husky tint to her voice as she motioned up and down the length of her body with a wave of her hand, "until you man up and go buy some condoms," she leaned over the centre console and whispered the last word into his ear. Puck shivered. "It's Friday night, Puck, your mother is staying at your Nana's. Leah is going to your dad's. Don't you want to get…" Quinn broke off as he got out of the car and headed into the drug store. "I thought you might," Quinn whispered to herself as she watched his progress through the window. Quinn smiled at how self-conscious he looked once he reached the cashier and handed over his purchase to be scanned and bagged. Oh dear Lord, she felt so sorry for him. The cashier must have been having a really crappy day. She watched as the middle aged woman held up the box in her hand, arm stretched high waving the box about, then she picked up the microphone to call for assistance. Quinn looked at Puck, his head was down slightly. Even from this distance she could see the colour in his cheeks. Saw as he turned to face out of the window towards her. Could imagine from the scowl on his face what he would love to be saying to her right at this very second. Quinn felt relieved for Puck when another assistant brought an identical package to the checkout. She watched Puck pay for his item then leave with his purchase tucked safely away in a nondescript white bag.

The second Puck opened the drivers door he threw the bag at Quinn. Not _to_ her, _at_ her. "Thanks for that," he grumbled at her sarcastically. "Now, not only will my Nana know I was in there buying condoms but possibly half of Lima will too. Yep, there she goes," he muttered, waving at a little, gray-haired old lady who tottered past their car, waving at Puck. "The biggest gossip at temple, my Nana's best friend and neighbour," he sighed and looked at Quinn. "I have absolutely no doubt that she'll call on Nana before she even steps foot inside her own house, _just_ to tell her what I was buying. And do you think Nana won't tell my mom?" Puck gave a strangled laugh. "Not a chance."

"I'm sorry," Quinn tried not to laugh as she leaned across the centre console again to kiss Puck's cheek. "But maybe your mom will appreciate that you _are_ buying them instead of leaving things to chance," Quinn said brightly, optimistically.

"I think she'll be on the phone inside twenty seconds of being in Nana's house telling me that she knows," Puck grumbled as he turned a little to look at Quinn. "I thought when something doesn't scan they usually type in the barcode number?" he sounded questioning.

"They usually do," Quinn agreed, "but where would the fun be in that?" she asked. "This way," she nodded towards the woman who had served Puck, "she got a giggle on a boring Friday afternoon."

"Yeah?" he asked. "Well, next time _you_ can go buy them," he started the car and reversed out of the parking spot. He turned to see Quinn's panicked expression before setting off towards home. "Doesn't sound so funny now, does it?" he asked.

"I'm a girl," Quinn argued. "How would it look if I was to go into the drug store and buy condoms?" she asked. "They'd think I was a total slut. Buying diapers, baby formula and condoms all together, mmm, I wonder what she get's up to in her spare time, that's what they'd be thinking," she pouted. "You wouldn't want anyone to….."

Puck rolled his eyes and sighed. "Fine," he muttered. "You get out of buying them. It'll just be me that gets the looks and the smirks then."

"Thank you," Quinn said as she smiled prettily at him, fluttering her eyelashes. "You know it makes sense."

As soon as they arrived at home Puck ran upstairs to stash the condoms out of sight. Miriam was getting dinner ready, chatting with Leah, Beth and Quinn. They hadn't been home ten minutes when the phone rang. Miriam answered. She didn't say much. She listened a lot and murmured the odd word. She turned to give Puck a searching stare. "I see," Miriam said to whoever was on the other end before she hung up.

"Have you got plans for tonight?" Miriam asked innocently as they all sat down for dinner.

"I do mom," Leah said excitedly. "Dad's picking me up and then we're going bowling and then I'm staying at his house till tomorrow and then he's bringing me home after softball practice and then he's staying for dinner and then I don't know what else," she finished, finally running out of breath.

"Yes I know honey," Miriam smiled at her daughter. "I was talking to your brother," she said, the smile still fixed in place, looking back at Puck, her chin in her hand. "No plans at all ? Nothing you'd like to discuss with your mother?" she asked, waiting a moment for an answer.

"Not particularly," was the best answer Puck could think of. What was he going to say? "Yes we have plans, please go out right now so we can do something we haven't done for months and by the way we'll be safe this time." He didn't think that would go down too well.

"No?" Miriam pressed. "Nothing that involved a trip to the drug store? You're sure?" she asked, her voice rising slightly in pitch.

Puck sighed. "I thought Nana would at least wait till you got to her house before she told you," he mumbled. "Is there a problem?" he asked.

"Not really, I suppose," Miriam replied, looking at Quinn who's face was almost the same colour as the scarlet top she was wearing.

Quinn stared down at her dinner, twirling her fork in her food. She didn't dare try to take a bite, she didn't think she'd be able to swallow it.

"Are you sure you want to go down this path?" Miriam asked, aiming her question at Quinn.

Quinn mustered every bit of her courage to look up at Miriam. She used all of the skills taught by her mother to keep the tremble out of her voice. "Yes," she said softly. "I'm sure."

"And there's been no….._pressure_?" Miriam asked, glancing at her son, watching the look of disgust flit across his face.

"No," Quinn replied firmly. "No pressure at all. Mutual choice," she said, her hand reaching under the table for Puck's. "Joint decision. And we'll take care," she confirmed.

"I'd prefer that you show some restraint when I'm in the house," Miriam told them both. "I accept that you're probably going to, but I'd rather not know about it. All I will say is please, _please_ take care," she said with a nod towards Beth. "We don't need a repeat performance," she finished. It was difficult saying what she wanted to say without using the words but she didn't want Leah to be in on the conversation either.

"Mom," Puck sighed. "Can we not do this right now?" he asked as he glanced towards his sister. "Maybe we can talk later before you go to Nana's," he offered.

"Fine," Miriam agreed. "We'll talk about this another time."

As Quinn finished clearing up after dinner, Puck's phone rang. It was Finn. He looked up at Quinn from where he was sat at the table with Beth. "What did you have in mind?" he asked, his voice lacking any real enthusiasm. He listened for a while. "Hang on," he told Finn, "let me check," he held the phone against his chest to muffle his words. "Finn wants to know if we want to go to Rachel's house tonight, she's holding an Abba-fest," his mocking tone was unmistakable, he was shaking his head at her.

"I'd rather be dipped in molten lava," Quinn replied, shaking her head too.

"Sorry dude," he said to Finn, now smiling. "You're on your own." Puck hung up. "If you'd have said yes, I think I might have had to come down with some tropical disease or something. I mean, Rachel Berry sings Abba? Why? Life's hard enough without dragging people down like that. I bet the new guy, 'Ladylips' will be there, it seems just like his sort of music, his and Kurt's if you get my drift," Puck smirked.

"Sam's not gay," Quinn replied.

"He so is," Puck shot back.

"No he isn't," Quinn argued quickly.

"Err, yeah he is," Puck answered just as fast. "He was totally checking me out in the locker room today," he insisted.

"He was probably just wondering how a Neanderthal like you could land an amazing piece of lusciousness like me," Quinn argued, giving him a wiggle of her butt and grinning over her shoulder. "And anyway, I thought you were cool with Kurt?" she asked, frowning just a touch.

"I am," Puck answered. "Each to their own. As long as he remembers that this Neanderthal only likes the ladies," he grinned.

"_Lady_," Quinn corrected. "You only get to like one lady now. Me. Ok?" she reminded Puck.

"I still get to look at other ladies though, right?" Puck asked, a hint of panic rising in his voice. He knew he wasn't allowed to touch, but did that mean he had to totally stop looking too?

"Only TV and the internet," Quinn confirmed. "Not real live ladies, just the ones on TV and the internet."

"You got me worried there," he said, blowing out a breath. "How am I ever going to find a three boobed woman if I'm not allowed to look? There's got to be one out there somewhere. Stands to reason, everything else has evolved and mutated. Women should have too. Three's the perfect number. One for each hand and the other for the lips," he grinned.

"There are some days you just scare me," Quinn said, her voice serious. She watched as Puck played with Beth, totally unconcerned.

Puck answered the door to Ethan a while later. "Hi dad," he said as he turned away and called for Leah. "Dad's here for you," he shouted up the stairs. Ethan had picked up Beth and was blowing kisses into her neck. They both heard the thundering of feet. Puck looked at his dad. "She sounds like a softball team all on her own," he teased.

"I'm ready," Leah called as she jumped the last two steps and landed with a thud. "See what she does now dad," she shouted, dropping her bag to rush over to her dad and niece. "Watch this," she instructed then tickled Beth gently on her tummy. Beth laughed really loudly, a real belly chuckle. "Isn't she cool? She can really laugh now," grinned Leah.

"Yep," grinned Ethan, "she's really cool." Ethan noticed Miriam motioning for him to come into the kitchen. "Just a sec, honey. Your mom wants me, do you have everything ready to go?" he asked, handing Beth back to Puck. Leah nodded. "Ok, I'll just see what mom wants then we're off."

The second Ethan went in to the kitchen Miriam closed the door. "Could you have a word with Noah before you go, please?" she asked. "I just want to be sure that everything's ok," she said, chewing her lip.

"Why?" Ethan asked, concerned straight away. "Is something wrong?"

"Noah was seen buying condoms this afternoon," Miriam confided, "and they'll be here alone tonight," she nodded towards the living room where Puck and Quinn were with Leah and Beth.

"If he's bought them let's hope they actually use them," Ethan replied, not sure what Miriam wanted him to do. "I'll talk to him now, ok?"

Miriam left the kitchen to go to the living room. "Noah, your dad wants you for a second in the kitchen please," she murmured quietly.

Puck sighed and trudged to the kitchen. "I take it you've been told too?" he asked his dad, resigned to the entire world knowing what he'd bought. He felt a bit annoyed about it, really. Surely everyone should be moaning at him because he _didn't_ buy them, not because he _did_.

"About you buying condoms?" Ethan asked. "Yeah. I don't really know what your mom expects me to say to you. I mean, you've already done the 'not safe' route and found out the hard way what can happen. Just promise me you'll be careful, take care of yourself and Quinn. No more accidents, ok?"

"We don't intend to have any more accidents," Puck shrugged. "That's the reason I bought them. We will be safe, I promise. And if you'd all hurry up and go out….." he said, hoping that they would all make a speedy exit. He was almost five months past bursting point, he wasn't sure he could hold on much longer. "It's been a really long time," he sort of apologised with a half smile at his dad.

"I get it," Ethan nodded. "Really, I do, we're just worried about you. About you both. You're sure this is what you both want?" he asked. "You're still only sixteen," he reminded Puck.

Puck and Ethan turned at the sound of Quinn's voice at the kitchen door. "Yes," she said quietly. "This is what we both want, we're sure," she smiled as she walked to Puck, his arm coming round her shoulder, they smiled at each other.

"We're sure," they said together. "And we will be safe," Puck reassured his dad. "Now can you all go? Please?" he was close to begging.

Ethan gave them both a searching look before he winked at Puck. "We're gone," he said with a smile then left the kitchen. "Leah? Are we set?" he asked. Leah cheered and shouted that she was. Ethan spoke quietly to Miriam. "They know what they're doing, they don't want to repeat the past, but I'd say it's an equal thing, they both want this. Leave them to it, ok?"

"You can't blame me for worrying," Miriam muttered back.

"True, but they'll be fine," Ethan said as he opened the door. "I trust him," he said simply, his voice just a little louder, knowing that Puck would probably hear that.

Miriam left very soon after Ethan and Leah, without raising the subject again with either Puck or Quinn. They stood together in the middle of the room, facing each other, holding both hands.

"I feel embarrassed now," Quinn admitted. "I don't know what we should do next," she shrugged. "I mean, do we wait till Beth goes to bed and hope that we can get her there early or…" she was cut off by Puck's mouth joining with hers. A long while later, when he'd lifted his head, "or we can do that," Quinn said breathlessly.

Puck led her to the couch and sat down, pulling Quinn down with him. It was quite some time before either of them had the desire to talk again.

"Goodnight baby," Quinn whispered from the door way as Puck laid Beth in her crib. She'd had her bath and her bottle and was just about asleep. Puck spent a moment or two stroking her hair then rubbing her tummy before leaning over the rail to kiss her forehead. Beth always settled well with that routine.

"Goodnight baby," Puck murmured as he straightened up. He turned on the little night light, pausing by the door to turn off the main light. "She really is perfect, isn't she?" he asked Quinn, his hand on the door knob. They both glanced back as Beth's eyes closed and she huffed a sighed breath out.

Instead of going downstairs to watch TV like they would on any other night, they went straight to their bedroom. They were both incredibly nervous, unsure. Puck's hands cupped Quinn's shoulders as he dipped to kiss her again. He felt her tremble. "We don't have to do this, you know," he said with a smile. "We have all the time in the world, it doesn't have to be right now," he said as he hugged her close, his chin on her head. He desperately wanted it to be right now but he didn't want Quinn to feel under any pressure whatsoever.

Quinn leaned back just slightly, her hands on his hips. "Yes," she whispered, reaching up to plant her lips on his, "we do. I am so ready to do this," she groaned.

"Thank God," Puck whispered with a laugh. "I want to see you naked, totally naked. I've never seen you completely naked before," he reminded her.

Quinn thought back to the times when they had done this before and she realised he was right. The very first time, in her bedroom at Dudley Road, she'd kept her Cheerios uniform on. When she'd moved into his house the day before Sectionals, Puck had persuaded her to do it again and seeing as how the damage was already done, she'd given in, but again, she hadn't let him remove all of her clothes. Every time they'd done it before she moved to Mercedes' house, she'd always kept something on, covering her in some way. Maybe it was a psychological thing, maybe she'd subconsciously felt that if she was totally naked she'd be giving up more of herself.

"You too," Quinn replied. "I want to see you naked too."

Puck smirked, his sexy little half smile that always made Quinn catch her bottom lip between her teeth just to stop herself from kissing him. "I have no problem with nudity at all," Puck assured Quinn. He dipped to kiss her again, his fingers creeping up her back underneath her scarlet top. "If you change your mind, just tell me, ok?" he said against her lips. He wished with all of his might that she wouldn't but he had to be a man about it. Girls' prerogative and all that. If she felt scared or worried or if she just decided that she didn't want to, it would hurt - a damn lot actually - but if that's what Quinn decided, he'd accept it.

"I won't change my mind," Quinn said against his throat, her lips nibbling. "I really want to do this," she insisted.

Puck felt the world explode into a million different colours. Never had it ever felt like this before. Ever. Not even when he did it with Quinn the first time. This was _spectacular_. He looked down at her dreamy expression, her eyes closed, a smile on her lips. "It never felt so good before," he told Quinn breathlessly. He bent to kiss her again, their lips and tongues meeting, parting, meeting again.

"I can still feel you," Quinn whispered, moving under him just a little.

"Crap," Puck said suddenly, wincing as reaching between them. "I have to….just a sec…." he jumped up from the bed and disappeared into the bathroom. "Sorry, I nearly forgot," he said, a little embarrassed, "you have to get rid of used ones straight away, can't stay in there to enjoy the aftershocks," he informed Quinn, his expression just a little sad, disappointed. "Just in case of leakage, you know?"

"I get it," Quinn replied, looking just a little uncomfortable, like 'too much information' uncomfortable.

"But I'll be good as new soon," Puck told her with a wink, "whenever you're ready, just let me know."

"I'm not sure about doing that again tonight," Quinn replied, "it's been a long time and that felt like the first time all over again, you know? Maybe we can do it again tomorrow before your mom gets home, before you go to work?" she asked.

"I'm up for that," Puck nodded. It wouldn't stop him trying to convince Quinn that a repeat performance tonight would be a good thing though.

They lay together, spooned close, Puck's arms around Quinn, her back up against his chest. Quinn bent her head a little and kissed his strong arm, she felt safe, secure, wanted. Puck kissed Quinn's neck, making her shiver. The movement brushed her up against his whole body, reawakening feelings that had just been satisfied. "I really think we're going to have to go for the double tonight," Puck whispered into her ear. "I'm not sure Puckasaurus will go to sleep with you rubbing up against me naked," he continued with a smile. "You don't even have to move," he grinned. "Remember this way from before?" he asked, lifting her leg and pulling it back over his hip. "I know there's no Beth sticking out in front now but it still works for me," he groaned, feeling Quinn push back with her butt just a little. That way still worked for Quinn too.

Saturday morning started off wonderfully. Peacefully. Sensually. Till Beth woke up sounding really cranky. Quinn jumped out of bed and was immediately embarrassed at being naked.

"Look away," she demanded. "Let me get something on at least," she wailed, searching for something, anything she could grab quickly so that she could check on her baby. She picked Puck's t-shirt that he'd taken off last night and left on the floor. "Look at the time," she called as she ran out of their bedroom. "You're going to be late."

"My dad's not there today, remember?" Puck called after Quinn's fleeing back. "He's watching Leah at softball." Puck laid back with his arms behind his head and sighed. Maybe his dad would come and watch some of his games this year. He hadn't ever bothered before. Then again, they hadn't ever really been on the same terms as they were now. Plus the team had always played like crap before. Maybe Quinn could invite him to come and watch New Directions perform sometime too. He'd like to see his mom and dad together in the audience. Actually, he just liked seeing his mom and dad together. His mom smiled a lot more these days, she didn't seem anywhere near as nervous.

"I think Beth has a fever," Quinn said quietly, walking into the bedroom with Beth in her arms. "She doesn't seem very well at all. What do you think?" she asked.

Puck took Beth in his arms as he sat up in bed. He laid her on her back along his thighs. "Let daddy see you," he murmured gently, soothingly. "Oh, you poor baby," he crooned, lifting her up against his chest. She did feel a little warm but her cheeks were burning hot and bright red. "I think she's teething," he told Quinn. "Look at her, the heat and the pain is localised to her cheeks and she's drooling a lot. And if you look here," he murmured as he gently pulled Beth's bottom lip down just a touch, "see?" he asked. "Those little lumps are her teeth trying to break through the surface of her gum. This could take weeks. Months. And the poor little lamb will suffer every inch of it. We can get her some medicine for her gums, I remember that from when Leah was a baby. Maybe I'll call Nana's and ask mom if she'll pick something up on the way home," he finished, smiling a little at Quinn. "What time is your dad coming by today?" he asked.

"About noon," Quinn replied, her worries for her baby subsiding just a little. Puck was surprisingly knowledgeable about most things concerning Beth. He had more than read the baby books. He'd devoured them. "Are you still coming home for lunch?" she asked. Puck nodded that he was, waiting for his mom to answer his call.

"Of course, I'll be leaving in about twenty minutes or so, ok?" Miriam responded to Puck's request to bring something back for Beth's gums.

"That's cool, I'll see you at lunchtime, I'll be gone to work before you get home," he said to his mom before he ended the call. "Fixed. Ok? I'm going to get ready and go," he told Quinn, throwing back the covers.

Quinn squealed and turned away. "Cover yourself up Puckerman," she cried. "I'd forgotten you were naked."

"You better get used to it," he advised. "You're going to be seeing a whole lot more of this," he winked, smirking at her. And he absolutely meant it.


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: Ownership of the original Glee characters or material is neither claimed nor implied.**

**A/N: Further tales of Quicketh as never seen on TV.**

"Hi, come on in," Quinn said as she opened the door wider for her dad and Claudia. "Puck should be home for lunch soon, Miriam's in the kitchen," she said, stooping to hug Russell. "You're staying for lunch, right?" she asked.

"We don't want to be any trouble," Russell replied quickly.

"It's no trouble at all, Mr Fabray," Miriam said, wiping her hands as she came through from the kitchen. "It's just chicken and salad, nothing fancy I'm afraid," she apologised.

"Are you sure?" Russell asked. "I'd hate to think we're intruding. And please, it's Russell."

"Absolutely," Miriam insisted. "Hello," she turned to Claudia, "I'm Miriam, you must be Claudia?" she asked.

"That's right," Claudia replied, returning the greeting then hugging Quinn tightly. "Oh look at you," she smiled. "I swear you get more beautiful every time I see you. I don't know what you're doing girl, but whatever it is, keep it up, you're glowing," she said, hugging Quinn again.

Miriam gave Quinn a knowing look. The look said "I'm not sure you want to share that beauty secret with your dad listening in".

"Claudia, you are so good for my ego," Quinn laughed, winking at Miriam. Quinn's look said "even I'm not that stupid".

The door opened again as Puck came in. "Hey," he said in greeting to everyone. He looked straight to Quinn first, as if he just needed to make sure she was there, see her. "I'm starved, what time are dad and Leah getting back?" he asked.

"Where's the shock there?" Miriam asked, "you're always starved." She checked her watch. "They should be here in about fifteen minutes or so," she turned to Russell and Claudia. "Can I get you anything to drink?" she asked.

They all sat on the patio, sipping iced drinks waiting for Leah and Ethan, the meal ready to go as soon as they got back. Beth sat on Russell's knee, smiling at him and waving her pudgy little hands about. She enchanted Russell and Claudia with her new trick, squealing.

"Whatever it is you're doing that's making this girl smile," Claudia said to Puck, "keep on doing it, she looks radiant," she finished, smiling at Quinn again.

Puck felt his cheeks heat up just a touch. He didn't even dare look at his mom. "I will," he replied with just the hint of a smirk at Quinn. "You better believe I will," he said to himself. Miriam gave Puck the same look that she gave to Quinn. "And not even that look will stop us," he thought as he caught his mom's eye, then glanced over and smiled even wider at Quinn.

Ethan and Leah arrived and after the introductions they sat down to lunch. The chatter round the table as they ate ranged from how wonderfully Beth was doing to the best way to beat a team of idiot know-all boys at softball.

"Did you finish the design for Mr Carter?" Ethan asked Puck. "We need to start fabricating next week to have a chance of meeting his deadline."

"Yeah," Puck replied. "I emailed the changes to him and he approved them, he even agreed on a colour scheme finally. Paul ordered the supplies too, they should be here Monday, so it's good to go."

"Excellent," Ethan nodded, "seems like you're really enjoying working for me," he said to Puck. Puck nodded, a little grin on his face. Ethan gave Puck a considering look. "So, I was thinking," he said, loading his plate with more salad, "how would you like to design a new logo for the company?" he asked.

Puck looked at Ethan in shock. His dad had designed the logo when he'd first started out. "Seriously?" he asked. "What's wrong with the logo you have now?" he asked.

"That's more like a 'one man band' sort of thing. It doesn't really say 'father and son', does it?" Ethan asked. "Maybe it should," he shrugged. "Maybe you should be working _with_ me, not _for_ me," he said with a smile.

"Free rein on the logo?" Puck asked, ideas already flooding his brain.

"Within reason," Ethan laughed, "no three boobed women," he said.

"Damn," Puck grinned. "That's me all out of ideas then," he joked.

Quinn just rolled her eyes and shook her head. "That's his idea of the perfect woman," she explained to her dad and Claudia.

"Three boobs and two…." was as far as Puck was allowed to explain before both Miriam and Quinn cut him off, coughing and humming loudly, Quinn especially having heard before what Puck thought women should have two of. "What?" Puck asked, laughing. "I was only going to say….." he got cut off again. He didn't try again, he was too busy choking on his chicken from laughing too much.

After lunch Ethan and Puck spent time drafting some ideas for the logo, Leah played outside in the September sunshine and Quinn spent some time with her dad and Beth while Claudia chatted with Miriam. "I'm sorry honey, I have to go," Russell said sadly. "But I'll come back again, if I may," he said, the hope in his voice loud enough for Miriam to hear.

"You're more than welcome to come any time you'd like," Miriam invited. "Even through the week to see Beth when Quinn and Noah are at school if that's ok with Quinn," she offered, looking at Quinn for her response.

"It's fine by me," Quinn agreed.

"Just give me a call, anytime," Miriam repeated the offer and gave the phone number. "Noah," she called, "Russell and Claudia are leaving," she informed him.

Puck and Ethan both came to the door to say goodbye to the guests. Once they'd gone Puck gave Quinn a hug round the shoulders. "He's nothing like your mom, is he?" he said, "Beth seems to like him." And that was the most important thing in his mind.

They spent the rest of the afternoon doing stuff as a family, Ethan stayed for dinner too. Puck managed to bribe Leah into spending time with him, Quinn and Beth, leaving their mom and dad alone for a good part of the evening.

"Want something to eat?" Puck shouted across the hall to Quinn. He was lounging on their bed, flicking through TV channels, bored. Beth was already in bed and so was Leah, tired out from playing softball. Now that he'd finally got Quinn alone again he had a few plans, but they'd have to wait till she'd done in the bathroom. According to Quinn, and he wasn't sure if she was just saying it to gross him out, but she said she had some re-growth issues to sort out. He got up to take a look.

"No, I'm fine," Quinn called back, sounding breathless, distracted.

"What are you doing in here?" Puck asked, stepping into the bathroom, completely intrigued. Whatever it was sounded a bit more interesting than reruns of Beavis and Butt-head. "I could help you with that," he grinned, as soon as he spotted where Quinn was doing her 'bit of tidying'.

"Get out of here, pervert," Quinn laughed. "I can't even do my bikini line without you drooling now?" she asked.

"No way," Puck refused, coming further into the bathroom and closing the door behind him. "That looks like it could be dangerous, I think you need someone with a real steady hand," his smile got just a little naughtier, "my hand is rock solid, look how often I have to shave my head," he reminded her. "A professional," he nodded, his eyes had yet to go anywhere above her belly button. "Yep, I'm a professional," he sighed, sinking to his knees in front of her.

From her position perched on the edge of the bathtub, Quinn tried to hide her smile as she handed over the razor. "Just be careful down there," she warned.

"Oh I will," Puck whispered, concentrating hard. "I definitely will."

"You can do my legs for me now," Quinn told Puck once he was satisfied that everything was as smooth as it could be.

"They're nowhere near as interesting," Puck pouted. "There better be a reward for all this 'lady grooming'," he said with a smile, looking up into Quinn's eyes. Puck made a good job of shaving Quinn's legs and was just making sure that he'd got everything when he thought he heard a noise. "Shhh," he hissed suddenly. "What was that?" he asked. "Did you hear that?"

"Yeah," Quinn whispered back. "I think it was the door," she said quietly, nodding towards their bedroom. "Go check," she instructed.

Puck opened the bathroom door and poked his head out. He tucked it back in pretty quick, not wanting his mom or dad to see him, see that he'd seen them. Not that he thought they'd notice him, they seemed pretty busy with each other.

"It's my mom and dad," Puck whispered over his shoulder. He opened the bathroom door just a crack and peeked out. His mom's bedroom door was just closing. "I think my mom and dad are, eww," he gulped, "getting it on."

"And why shouldn't they?" Quinn asked, she'd spun round with her legs in the tub and was rinsing herself off with the shower head. "They're both free agents," she reminded him.

"I know but," Puck frowned. "It's my _mom_ and _dad_. It's just gross," he said, pulling a face and shuddering.

"Does that mean it's put you off completely? You don't want to….." Quinn asked, smiling as she stood up and dried her legs then wrapped the towel round her waist.

"I never said _that_," Puck denied quickly. "I'm always ready for that," he smirked, his eyebrows waggling up and down.

"Would you rub this lotion on for me?" she asked, handing a tube to Puck.

"On your legs?" he asked, still distracted by the thoughts of his mom and dad and what they were probably doing.

"Everywhere that's been shaved," Quinn replied huskily, stepping forward towards him.

"Everywhere?" Puck repeated his voice low, a smile forming on his face. "Might be better to take this back to the bedroom then," he said with a wink. Puck soon forgot about his mom and dad.

Quinn was first up on Sunday morning. She stepped into the bathroom just seconds before Beth made it known that she was awake too.

"Hang on, baby," Quinn muttered to herself, hoping that Beth wouldn't wake anyone else up. Beth stopped crying. "I hope daddy got you," Quinn said as she washed her hands. "Oh," she said, stepping back in surprise when she saw who was bent over Beth's crib, comforting her. "I didn't expect to errm," Quinn stumbled over her words and shook her head slightly, embarrassed, she didn't know what to say.

"Sorry," Ethan whispered. "I didn't mean to startle you," he glanced at Quinn and gave a little laugh. "I heard her and," he shrugged. "I hope you don't mind."

"It's fine," Quinn managed to find her voice. "I'll take her, she'll get a cuddle from daddy while I go make her breakfast, won't you?" Quinn said, smiling into Beth's face.

"I can get her breakfast for you," Ethan offered. "What does she have?" he asked.

"Just a bottle, they're in the fridge, it just needs warming up," Quinn replied, getting everything ready to change Beth, make her comfortable.

"Do you want it up here?" he asked from the doorway.

"Yes please," Quinn nodded. She concentrated on Beth, seeing to her needs.

Quinn had already returned to her own room when Ethan came back with the bottle. She was sat up in bed with Beth laid on her knees, smiling and kicking, throwing her arms about. Puck was still asleep, on his front, his face buried in his pillow, his hands tucked underneath it.

"There you go," whispered Ethan. "It's not too hot is it? Or too cold?" he asked.

Quinn reached across Puck for the bottle. Beth kicked and waved even more when she spotted breakfast. "No, that's perfect, thank you," Quinn whispered back.

"Does he always sleep through?" Ethan asked, nodding towards Puck.

"No," Puck's husky voice was muffled through the pillow. "Sometimes he wakes up at three in the morning when no one else hears her crying," he said then lifted his head a little and turned to Quinn. "Her gums were bothering her, I rubbed some of that medicine on them and she went back to sleep. How is she now?" he asked, propping himself up on his elbows, leaning towards Quinn and Beth.

"She seems fine," Quinn replied, smiling at Beth. "Hungry as usual, but fine."

Puck turned to look the other way. He lifted one eyebrow as he looked at his dad stood beside the bed dressed only in his jeans. "Morning dad," Puck smirked. "You look wide awake this morning," he said, "I assume you were too tired to drive home last night, slept on the couch?" he suggested.

"Errmm, yeah, couch, yeah," Ethan muttered, blushing, backing up out of the bedroom. "Well, I'd better get going, leave you all in peace," he said, almost out of the door.

"You are such a liar," Puck laughed. "I _saw_ you last night," he told his dad. "Just admit it, you slept with mom."

Ethan sighed and looked at Puck. "Ok, ok, I slept with your mom, but Noah, don't read too much into this, it's your mom's decision what happens next, alright?" he said with a nod. "And don't start pressuring her for answers either, just let us figure it out on our own."

"It's cool dad," Puck replied, laying his head back on the pillow. "By the way," he called as Ethan disappeared into the hall. Ethan popped his head back. "You owe me," Puck accused. "Don't think I didn't notice. I know exactly how many there were," he grinned.

"You got me," Ethan grinned. "But hey, safety first, right?" he winked then disappeared.

Puck grinned into his pillow, couldn't help his smile getting bigger and bigger. He'd never have thought that he'd love having his dad around like this. Six months ago he'd have gone to temple rather than be at home when his dad visited and he'd have eaten his own liver before admit that he actually enjoyed working with him. Funny how life can turn completely around.

Monday at school started with football practice. Coach Beiste really put the team through their paces. After practice Puck walked down the hall towards his next class. "So what did you do on the weekend?" Finn asked. "You didn't say what your plans were on Friday, just that you had plans," he reminded Puck of his call.

"We just lazed around," Puck eventually replied. "Quinn's dad came over on Saturday for lunch, my dad stayed too, we took Beth and Leah to the park yesterday and that's it, nothing major," he said, nodding. "I have to get to class, see you later," he said with a wave. Finn was having a hard time reconciling the Noah Puckerman that he'd always known to the Noah Puckerman who now actually tried hard at his lessons and did his homework. It had been a revelation to Puck's teachers too. Well, almost all of them. One of his teachers hadn't noticed any change. At all.

"Mr Puckerman," sighed Miss Brawn, his art teacher. "Once again you have managed to turn a simple piece of fruit into something rather obscene," she said, peering over Puck's shoulder at his drawing. "How can you possibly turn every object that you draw into an homage to female genitalia?" she asked.

"It's a gift," Puck confided, a half smile on his face, hearing the sniggers of laughter and appreciation from various class-mates.

"I think you need therapy," muttered Miss Brawn as she turned away to look at the next person's work.

"Do they use immersion therapy if you don't actually have a fear of the object?" Puck asked, indicating his drawing.

"Why?" Miss Brawn asked slowly, drawing the word out, not entirely sure she was going to like hearing Puck's reasoning.

"'Cos there are parts of me that need daily immersion," he said, sounding serious. "I love getting immersed in that particular part of the female anatomy," Puck added, trying not to laugh. He leaned to his side and high fived one of his football team-mates. Puck turned back to his own easel, shifting on his stool, contemplating his drawing. It might not be anatomically correct for a peach but it was absolutely spot on for Quinn, right down to his artistic grooming. Not that he would ever tell anyone that's who it was that he'd drawn. In fact, he thought Quinn might kill him if she ever found out that he'd drawn that part of her. It was an absolutely beautiful looking part though, and made for quite a fabulous looking peach too.

At the end of the lesson Miss Brawn asked Puck to stay behind. "I'd like to bring your parents in for a conference," Miss Brawn told Puck, her expression serious. "I have deep concerns about you, about the way you view the world. I think this is something that should be investigated," she finished decisively.

"Miss Brawn," Puck began. "I'm a teenage boy, sex is just about the only thing I think about besides Quinn and Beth. Well, food and football too but really, sex is the number one subject in my brain. I don't really think bringing my parents in or therapy will change that."

"Not every boy in this school is _quite_ so obsessed," Miss Brawn countered. "What makes you different?"

"Do any of the rest of them live with their girlfriend? Their daughter?" he asked. "No, they don't, but it's not all fun and good times for us either, so maybe I use art to have a little fun, release some of the pressure, so what? Who does it hurt? You? Me? Anyone?" he shrugged. "Do what you have to do, it won't stop me drawing what I like to look at," he said, leaving Miss Brawn staring after him as he left the classroom.

Straight after Glee Quinn had Cheerios practice. Coach Beiste was running an extra fitness session to make sure all of her boys were in top shape. Puck was just taking a moment to get his breath back, admiring Quinn's form at the top of the pyramid, his eyes tracking the slight quiver of her silky smooth legs.

"Put your tongue away Puckerman," Finn said just behind him. "You know it's just going to hurt all the more when she reminds you that you're just friends," he told Puck.

"It'd hurt for sure if we were still 'just friends'," Puck agreed. He turned and grinned at Finn. "Doesn't hurt so much anymore," Puck said with a wink, nodding his head back at Quinn as she waved at him. "I like my world so much better than yours," he grinned.

"So that was your 'lazing about' at the weekend?" Finn asked, shaking his head in disgust. "Every time," he grumbled. "How? How do you manage to get a girl who will and I always get the girl who won't? Even when they're the same girl? Life sucks," Finn complained. Puck's grin just got bigger. "Hey," Finn nodded over Puck's shoulder, "isn't that your dad?" he asked.

Puck turned and looked. Finn was right. Ethan Puckerman was walking towards him, looking serious. Puck hoped Miss Brawn hadn't called him. "S'up?" he asked as his dad drew nearer.

"Noah," Ethan said, his voice low, husky. "It's….." he broke off and looked away, his shoulders slumped.

Puck felt the cold hand of fear stroke down his back. "Beth?" he asked, his heart pounding.

"No," Ethan shook his head. "Beth's fine, it's your Grandpa," he managed to say. Puck knew it was bad, whatever it was, he could see the tears shimmering in his dad's eyes.

"Is he….?" he started to ask the question, he stopped and gulped.

Ethan nodded, his hands on Puck's shoulders. "Yeah, this afternoon," he replied, swallowing hard. "He got out of the house while Nana was busy, he just stepped out in front of a car," he shrugged, unable to believe what had happened.

Puck bent over a little, feeling sick, shocked, his legs unsteady. Ethan pulled Puck into his chest, hugged his son, taking comfort from him as he was giving it himself.

Puck pulled back. "How's Nana?" he asked.

"In shock," Ethan replied. "Blaming herself," he added.

Quinn watched the whole thing between father and son from the top of the pyramid. She knew something was very wrong. She struggled to get down, almost falling before her feet were on the ground. As soon as she hit the field she took off running in their direction. She heard Coach Sylvester shouting for her to come back, that practice wasn't over.

Puck turned, heard Quinn calling to him. He caught her in his arms as she launched herself in his direction.

"Beth?" Quinn asked breathlessly, fear for her baby making her stomach twist.

"Beth's fine," Ethan replied. "It's my dad," he explained then told Quinn what had happened.

Quinn's hands cupped Puck's face. "Are you ok?" she asked, her heart hurting for him, for the look of devastation on his face. "Stupid question," she muttered to herself, "of course you're not ok," she answered just a little louder, bringing Puck's head to her shoulder, one hand cupping it, the other sliding across his shoulders as Puck's arms wrapped tightly around Quinn's waist.

"Can I help you?" Coach Beiste asked as she approached Ethan. She thought he must be related to Puck because they looked alike. "Mr Puckerman?" she asked. Ethan nodded. "Can we help you with anything? My boys need the fitness sessions to get in shape for the first game of the season," she explained.

"Noah is needed at home right now," Ethan told Coach Beiste. "There are customs that need to be observed, things that need to be done," he explained.

Puck turned to the coach. "I'm sorry Coach, I have to go, my Grandpa just died," he told her, his voice hoarse. "Quinn, you better go tell Coach Sylvester," he advised. "We have to go," he finished with a croaky voice.

Puck followed his dad home, as soon as they got there, he showered and changed clothes, Miriam, Leah and Ethan were waiting for him. "I'll see you later, ok?" he whispered to Quinn. "You'll be ok on your own, won't you?" he asked.

Quinn nodded, her chin trembling just a little. "We'll be fine, if I need anything I'll call Claudia. Tell your Nana…." Quinn couldn't think of anything to actually say, "just, you know, tell her I'm thinking about her, ok?" she finished lamely.

"I will," he replied, closing the door gently behind him. As he got into the back of his dad's car alongside Leah, their mom and dad in the front, Puck felt a surge of emotion passing through him. He couldn't remember the last time all four of them had gone anywhere together. It was just sad that it had to be the death of this beloved old gentleman that brought it about. Puck saw through the middle of the two front seats, his mom's hand laid gently, comfortingly on top of his dad's hand as it rested on the stick shift. The spark of love between them was still there, Puck hoped it was something that would ignite again, turn them back into a proper family.


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do not claim any ownership of anything that is obviously Glee. I do however claim ownership of the stuff that isn't.**

**A/N: Thank you for reading and reviewing the previous chapters. I hope this one meets with approval.**

**I apologise in advance for any misinterpretation of Jewish customs, I certainly mean no offence.**

"Still no Puck?" Mr Schue asked when he walked into the choir room with his cup of coffee in his hand.

"I'm sorry Mr Schue," Quinn replied quietly. "Puck won't be back for a few more days, the family are still in mourning, what is it they're doing, Rachel?" she turned and asked.

"They're sitting Shiva," Rachel answered for Quinn. "The funeral was four days ago and today counts as the fifth day so there's two more days of Shiva then after that the family can resume normal life," she explained. "It's custom," she added.

"It's inconvenient," Mr Schuester contradicted under his breath. "Alright, we'll work around Puck," he sighed, wondering how to get his team motivated. Finn and Rachel seemed to be ok, Mike and Tina were too involved in each other to be aware of what was happening around them. Artie was staring at Tina with hurt, puppy dog eyes. Mercedes and Kurt seemed oblivious to anyone's pain. Santana appeared to be rubbing Quinn's face in the fact that despite rejoining the Cheerios and taking her captain's spot back, Quinn still wasn't as popular as Santana. Brittany was living in her own little bubble, totally unaware of anything and Sam seemed to only have eyes for Quinn. Interesting. "Ok. Duets again. Pair up," Mr Schue called from the front of the class.

"Mr Shue," Kurt said, raising his hand, "I have a fabulous idea for a duet but I actually need to work alone for it. It's a conceptual idea," he finished in an excited rush of breath.

"Go for it Kurt," Mr Shue nodded, "I'm always open to conceptual ideas," he added, thinking "Oh my God, what now?"

"Mr Schue, I don't have a partner," Quinn said, raising her hand after seeing Santana and Mercedes pair up and Brittany and Artie do the same.

"Sure you do," Mr Schue replied, "you can sing with Sam, I'm sure Puck won't mind," he said with a smile. "By the way, did I forget to mention the winning pair will get dinner for two at Breadstix, my treat," he added with a huge grin. "That might get the competitive juices flowing," Mr Schue thought to himself.

"I'm just as damn sure Puck _will_ mind," Quinn muttered to herself as Sam came to sit beside her. She turned and smiled prettily, although the smile didn't actually reach her eyes. "So, Sam," Quinn said with a sigh, "what do you want to sing?"

"Errm, I'm not sure," Sam replied, feeling uncomfortable, sensing Quinn's discomfort. "What sort of duets do you usually sing in here? Sad, sappy ones? Happy upbeat ones? What sort of thing do you usually sing?" he asked.

"As long as it's a duet Mr Schue won't mind," Quinn replied, she was distracted and itching to pull her phone out of her bag and check for any messages. Claudia was really being fantastic and helping out, watching Beth for them, her dad was having a whale of a time getting involved with her too, but Quinn was worried. Beth was really only used to her, Puck and Miriam looking after her, she wondered if she could pretend that Beth had a fever or something, maybe cut out of school early to be with her baby. Quinn rolled her eyes at herself. Where had that come from? She'd always been such a conscientious student before. Was this Puck's influence or was it her mommy hormones? Quinn thought for a few minutes. Damn. It was the hormones. She hated that time of the month. The best bit about being pregnant had been that she didn't have a period for nine months. "I'm sorry," Quinn replied to Sam, her tone implying that she was really trying to listen. "I got distracted there for a second, what did you say?" she tried really hard to listen, to take in what Sam was saying but she could only concentrate on the way his hair flopped about, how blond it was, and she was sure he dyed it. "Sorry, spaced out again, Beth's teething," she gave as an excuse, "we aren't getting much sleep right now."

"It must be difficult," Sam said, "looking after a baby, cheerleading, school and everything," he sympathised. "It doesn't leave you much time for yourself I imagine."

"No, it doesn't," Quinn replied, "but we have some really good support, Puck's mom and dad are really involved, my dad is trying to be involved, we manage," she shrugged.

"What about parties and stuff?" Sam asked. "There's been a few already, you know, football stuff, cheer stuff, Glee stuff. I haven't seen either of you at any of them," he said, eyebrows raised almost as if he was questioning her.

"Parties aren't really a priority," Quinn agreed. "Beth comes first, always. Puck has work as well as school, Glee and football, it doesn't leave much time for other stuff," she told Sam with a shrug. "Look, can we concentrate on the song, please?" she asked, missing Puck all the more.

"Fine," Sam answered a little shortly. "What would you like to sing?" he asked, leaving the choice up to Quinn.

"I have no idea," Quinn replied. "I know if I was singing with Puck we'd have loads to choose from, but I don't know you, know anything about you," she shrugged again, "it makes choosing a song difficult."

"We should probably go for something traditional," Sam said decisively, "nothing silly or….what?" he asked, seeing the look on Quinn's face. "You don't agree?"

"Actually I _don't_ agree," Quinn replied. "Something traditionally a male/female duet would tend to be a love song and I'm sorry, I can't do that with you," she told him. "More to the point, I don't _want _to do that with you," Quinn frowned, concentrating hard. "No, I just can't think of anything that isn't a love song type of duet and I'm sorry, but I really don't want to do that with you. Mr Schue?" Quinn called turning her attention away from Sam. "Mr Schue, I really don't feel too well, may I be excused for a moment?" she asked, standing and picking up her bag.

"Watch out for morning sickness," Santana muttered as Quinn passed her, "she's bound to be pregnant again," she said with a malicious smile, conveniently forgetting their previous truce.

"Quite the opposite Santana," Quinn announced, a slight blush on her face. "In fact, I'm feeling so pre-menstrual right now, you better stay the hell away from me," she all but growled.

"Girls, girls, can we keep this place a no fight zone please?" Mr Schue asked with a sigh as Santana reared up in her seat, ready to make the first strike.

Quinn stepped away from Santana, feeling quite murderous, and threw an apologetic look to Mr Schue. "I apologise for my behaviour, Mr Schue," Quinn told him, her expression almost angelic. "I don't know what came over me, how I managed to sink to Santana's level. It must be low blood sugar or something. May I be excused?" she asked then left the room without waiting for a reply.

In the girls' bathroom Quinn checked her phone then rang Claudia. "Beth is asleep right now," Claudia told Quinn, the smile in her tone was audible.

"I know she's fine Claudia," Quinn sighed. "I'm just worried, she hasn't stayed with anyone other than Puck, Miriam or me since she was born. It's frightening. For me rather than her apparently," she admitted.

"I understand," Claudia replied gently. "Call anytime you feel the need," she told Quinn. "We'll be fine, all of us,"

"Thank you," Quinn whispered with tears in her eyes before hanging up. She hung about in the bathroom, dawdled just enough for the lesson to be almost over when she made her way back to the choir room.

"We still need to work on a duet idea," Sam reminded Quinn as they left for their next class.

"Sure," Quinn replied, still distracted, "no problem, we can each think about it tonight and maybe come up with something. Bye Sam," she said as she headed off in the direction of her next class.

After school Quinn jumped into the driver's seat of Puck's car. She didn't notice someone coming to stand in front of the vehicle while she was rifling through her bag for her sunglasses. Quinn started the engine and put the car in gear as she looked up. She stalled the engine, startled by Karofsky standing blocking her way. She glanced in her rear view mirror. Blocked as well. She couldn't reverse, another car had pulled up right to the rear bumper, she glanced around, the parking lot was almost deserted. Quinn swallowed hard, her eyes on Karofsky, she surreptitiously pressed the button on the key fob, activating the locks. She took a deep breath then pressed her hand to the horn, keeping it pressed, hoping that it would at the very least make Karofsky move or if not, attract some attention.

"What's up?" Karofsky asked, "do I make you nervous?" he said with a nasty laugh. "Where's Puckerman?" he asked. "I see he lets you drive his car," Karofsky added, looking at the vehicle with an exaggerated sneer. "What sort of car is _this_ for any self respecting teenager?" he said mocking the BMW X3 that Ethan had bought for Puck when he turned sixteen. "Oh, right, I get it," he laughed, "it's a 'daddy' car," he shouted, motioning for his group of bully friends that Quinn hadn't been aware of till they all moved in a little closer, to laugh along with him.

"Is there any reason you're not allowing Quinn to get home to her baby?" Sam asked, appearing out of nowhere.

"What's it to do with you?" Karofsky sneered, trying to intimidate Sam.

"It's everything to do with every decent person when a bully like you tries to intimidate a young woman on her own," Sam countered with a huge smile, not showing any signs of fear or nerves, despite the fact that there were suddenly four big guys standing behind him, blocking him in too.

"She's not a young woman on her own," Karofsky corrected, "she's a slut who knows how to make the guys happy. It's our turn," he said, turning back to face Quinn through the windscreen. "What about it Quinn? Want to know how it feels to be with a _real _man?" he asked, making what he must have thought was a sexy face. Quinn almost gagged.

"Get lost Karofsky," Quinn shouted, even though the windows were rolled up. "Get out of my way," she demanded.

Karofsky took a step closer to the car, his knees on the front bumper. "No," he answered. "Not till you give it up to all of us like you do for Puckerman," he said, the sneer on his face was menacing. Quinn gulped. She reached into her bag, searching blindly for her phone, her eyes never leaving Karofsky. "Looking for this?" Karofsky asked, his voice silky smooth, holding Quinn's pink clad phone in his hand. "Just a little bump in the hallway and hey, what do you know? A new iphone for me," he smirked, looking at the phone in his hand. "Some really interesting pictures on here Quinn," he said, swiping his finger over the screen, scrolling through something. "Really, really interesting," he laughed. "I can't believe you let Puckerman take pictures of you like that," he said, laughing a little harder, he held the phone up for Quinn to see. She couldn't see the screen from that distance but she knew exactly what Karofsky was referring to. And she kicked herself for not deleting them. Yes the pictures had been a bit naughty, a bit rude, a bit risqué, well, more than a bit actually, but she'd never thought of anyone getting a hold of her phone.

"Give Quinn her phone," Sam enunciated clearly. "Do the right thing now, while you have the chance. I'm going to count to five. If I don't have the phone in my hand, you'll regret it," he warned Karofsky.

Karofsky sneered even more. "Regret what?" he asked, his voice low and menacing as he stepped up nose to nose with Sam. The other guys at Sam's back stepped up too, almost surrounding him.

"One," Sam began firmly his eyes locked with Karofsky's. "Two," he continued. "Three," there wasn't even a waver in his voice. "Four," even firmer if that was possible. "Five," he finished. "Don't say I didn't warn you. All of you," Sam announced, sounding bored.

In a split second Karofsky was on the floor, his legs swept out from under him, two of the guys from behind Sam had been thrown over his shoulder and had landed in a pile on top of Karofsky, a third had been dispatched with a kick to the knee and a knee to the groin. The fourth ran away. "Now give me the phone," Sam demanded again, not even a touch out of breath. He picked the phone up from the ground beside Karofsky's head, all of them groaning and moaning in a heap on the floor. Sam came quickly to the passenger side of Quinn's car. She unlocked the doors and he jumped in. "Hard right, step on it," Sam demanded quietly, "they're out of the way if you steer hard right."

Quinn did as she was told, feeling the slightest bump as if she'd run over something. She was crying and shaking. "Thank you, thank you, thank you," she repeated over and over again.

The second they were out of the school parking lot Sam asked Quinn to pull over. "You can't drive in this state. Pull over," he asked again.

They changed places, Sam took over driving. "Thank you," Quinn said quietly. "I don't know what I would've done if you hadn't been there," she said tearfully, the possible consequences flooding her brain, scaring her even more than she already was. "Where did you learn to do all that?" she asked, nodding her head back towards school.

"Well, when you move schools as often as I have," Sam admitted, "you learn pretty quick how to defend yourself. Every school has a Karofsky, unfortunately," he told Quinn sadly. "Where do you live?" Sam asked her. Quinn gave the address. "That's not too far from me," he told her. "I'll walk from your house," he said. "Will Puck be home when you get there?" he asked.

"No, he's at his Nana's all day till it's time for Beth to have her bath, then he comes home. His mom, his sister and his dad are all staying at his Nana's till the end of Shiva. Puck would be too if we didn't have Beth, but he knows I need some help with her," Quinn explained.

"Well, I'm glad he'll be home later," Sam said as he pulled up outside the house Quinn indicated. "If you need anything, before Puck get's home, give me a call," Sam told her, helping her out of the car. "Here, let me give you my number," he said, taking the phone that she still clutched in her hand and typing in his own phone number. "Just a second, let me ring myself," he said, pressing send. "That's it, I have your number now. Don't forget, if you need anything, anything at all, just give me a call, ok?" he repeated.

Quinn nodded, feeling slightly emotional, touched that someone would do so much, go out of their way to help her. "Thank you Sam," Quinn said once more before she went in the house.

Claudia stayed with Quinn until Puck got home. She hadn't tried to call Puck, she knew his phone was turned off the whole time he was in his Nana's house, he only turned it on again when he came home. He'd borrowed his dad's car this week so that Quinn could take his car to school, he didn't want her to have to walk the lonely roads or have to set out early to get the bus. He was really, really glad that he'd finally started using the X3 instead of being stubborn and still just driving his clapped out, unreliable truck. He felt much safer knowing that Quinn had the safety and security of the BMW.

"How was your day?" Puck asked sadly as he came in the door. "Hi Claudia, how was Beth?" he asked, picking up his daughter to cuddle her close, needing to feel her warm body, feel the connection.

Quinn waited till Claudia gave an update then left after hugging Quinn and murmuring to her. She took a deep breath and told Puck about Karofsky. "And he saw the pictures you took," Quinn wailed. "I told you to email them to yourself so I could delete them, you know it's going to be all round school tomorrow, don't you?" she said, her face in her hands. "I don't know what would have happened if it wasn't for Sam."

Puck stiffened as he heard exactly what Sam had done to save Quinn. The more she told him, the more it sounded like Sam was some sort of superhero. Quinn's superhero. And that was supposed to be _him_. Puck felt the stirrings of jealousy writhe in his stomach. He clenched his jaw and kept silent.

Puck held Quinn close all night, feeling her shudder on occasion, she must have been dreaming about what had happened. He was angry with himself that he hadn't been the one to save her, he'd let her down. Puck didn't sleep very well that night.

Quinn had to take quite a few deep breaths before she stepped out of the car in the school parking lot the next morning. She was sure that everyone was staring at her. Then she heard the whispers and she knew she was right.

Santana waited till Quinn was at her locker, studiously ignoring everyone walking behind her, trying to block out the whispered comments and the not so whispered ones. "Look, Q," Santana said quietly at Quinn's side. "I know we've had our differences, had our fights but this, what Karofsky's done," she shook her head, looking into Quinn's tear filled eyes, "it's not right. That's not to say you're not an idiot for having stuff like that on your phone in the first place. I blame Puck. It's bound to have been his idea," Santana said with a smile, rolling her eyes, trying to cheer Quinn up. "Come here, bestie," she said really, really quietly and hauled Quinn in to her arms to hug her.

"I feel so stupid," Quinn whispered into Santana's shoulder. "I can't believe I even let Puck take them," she said with a sniff, pulling back slightly. "God, he can talk me into just about anything," Quinn admitted, looking upwards, trying her best not to let the tears fall.

"Forget these _pendejos_," Santana advised, giving some of the students passing by and whispering about Quinn an evil stare. "You're Queen Bee, right? Top dog? You can do this," she encouraged, her tone strong, urgent, needing Quinn to understand that she could. And that Santana would be right behind her. "I got your back, sweet-cheeks," she grinned at Quinn, "let 'em have it," she nodded with a wink.

Quinn nodded back, feeling a lot stronger. She'd been talked about before, called names before. She could do this. She took a deep breath, put her hands on her hips and sauntered down the hall, looking neither left nor right, her head up, confident. Inside she was a quivering mess. "Thank you Santana," Quinn thought.

Throughout the day Quinn felt uncomfortable but she refused to show it. She kept her head up, and when asked directly about the pictures she did what any self respecting Christian person would do. She lied. She said that Karofsky had somehow photo-shopped a picture of her and was trying to pass it off as the real thing. She said it with such conviction and condescension towards Karofsky that even the guys who had seen the pictures on her phone with their own eyes, believed her. Quinn felt so much stronger towards the end of the day.

"How was school today?" Puck asked when he got home. He didn't really want to hear if Ladylips had swooped in to save the day but….he sighed heavily. Yes he did. He wanted to torture himself even further than he had all day, feeling like an asshole, the ultimate loser for not being there for Quinn when something had threatened her.

"It was hard to start with," Quinn admitted. "Santana surprised the hell out of me," she said with a laugh and told Puck how good she'd been all day, been a true friend, real support.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Puck demanded, feeling extremely sensitive. "That I'm _not_ your support?" he asked, the hint of hurt evident in his voice.

"No," Quinn insisted. "That's not what I meant," she said. "I just meant that me and Santana haven't been best of friends recently and she could have taken the opportunity to I don't know, humiliate me even more," she shrugged. "But she didn't and I really appreciate that. So does Coach Sylvester apparently, she's put Santana back on the team. At the bottom of the pyramid but at least she's back on the squad," Quinn said, sounding really pleased. She looked down as her phone chimed with a message.

"Who's that?" Puck asked as Quinn erupted into a fit of giggles after reading the message.

"No one," she replied, still laughing. "Sam," she added. "He just sent me a joke. Here, read this," she said, passing her phone over to Puck.

"No, thanks," Puck replied, "I don't feel in the mood for jokes," his voice sounded moody as he pushed past Quinn and went upstairs.

"Excuse me for laughing," Quinn muttered under her breath, checking out another joke that had just arrived, then another and another and another.

"Can you at least turn the damn thing to silent?" Puck grumbled a few hours later after they'd watched TV for a while. When he came home he'd bathed Beth while Quinn had done her homework. After that she'd fed Beth while Puck made a snack for them both. Beth was settled into bed so they'd watched TV downstairs. Quinn's phone chiming with constant messages was beginning to seriously annoy Puck. The fact that she giggled and replied to every message was grating on him. In fact, it was like Puck only had one nerve left and Sam was tap-dancing on it.

"Who bit your butt?" Quinn asked, unused to Puck sounding quite so pissed off. Annoyed.

"No one," Puck muttered, "more like Sam kissing _your_ ass," he finished under his breath, unable to identify the feelings he had.

"I'm going to bed," Quinn said with a huff, "don't be too long," she told Puck.

"Mer mer mer mer mer mer mer," Puck mimicked Quinn telling him not to be too long, "who are you?" he asked very quietly, "my mother?" he mocked. He stayed downstairs longer than he'd intended, just to make a point. He eventually locked up and went upstairs. He stood outside the bedroom door and listened to Quinn chatting and giggling with someone.

Quinn thought she heard Puck go into the bathroom. "Goodnight Sam," she smiled into her phone. "No, Puck's here now, he's just come upstairs, I'll see you tomorrow, we can practice then. Good night," she repeated.

Puck waited a few more minutes to make it seem as though he had actually been in the bathroom before opening their bedroom door. "Thought you'd be asleep already," he commented, sitting on the bed to take his boots off. "What've you been doing?" he asked, "reading?" he suggested.

"Err, yeah, reading," Quinn agreed, sensing that Puck would not be happy to know she had been chatting with Sam.

Puck went to see Beth once he had his shorts on, he stroked down her back then turned her over. He returned to the bedroom after visiting the bathroom. "Beth turned herself over again," he commented to Quinn, just for something to say. Quinn nodded, showing interest but didn't reply. "Night," Puck muttered and laid down, his back to Quinn.

Quinn waited. And waited. And waited. Puck didn't speak again, he was barely breathing. "Is something wrong?" Quinn asked, feeling the tension in Puck's shoulders when she reached out to touch him.

Puck shrugged. "I don't know," he said, sounding bored, "you tell me," he turned it round on Quinn.

"Something is clearly bothering you," Quinn stated, sitting up and turning her lamp on.

"You don't say," Puck responded, pulling the covers further up his shoulder.

"What?" Quinn asked, "what's bothering you? Talk to me," she pleaded.

"Oh, you have time now?" Puck threw at her, turning over slightly. "Do you want to ask Sam if we have enough time to talk? See if he wants to send any more jokes?" he asked, the sarcasm not lost on Quinn.

"That's what you're upset about?" Quinn asked, rolling her eyes. "The fact that a guy is talking to me?" she said, wanting Puck to admit it, clarify things.

"In a word," Puck said, sitting up, "yes," he admitted. "Yes, I'm upset, pissed off, feeling ignored, call it what you want, but you've spent the whole night laughing and chatting with another guy, while your feet were in my lap, expecting me to massage them for you," he finished, incredulous. "I mean, what's that all about?" he asked. "If…if….if….Santana," he finally thought of a girl's name, "was keeping me busy all night, making damn sure I ignored you, you'd be more than pissed, so don't tell me I don't have the right," Puck wasn't calming down, he was getting angrier, his eyes flashing fire.

"Well, I'm sorry," Quinn said, truly meaning it and also wanting to smooth over ruffled feathers. "I never thought how it'd make you feel and you're right, if a girl was doing the same with you, I'd be jealous too," she admitted to Puck, leaning over and trying to kiss his cheek.

Puck pulled back, looking at Quinn like she'd lost her mind. "I'm not jealous," Puck denied. "What have I got to be jealous about?" he asked. "Unless something is going on with you and Ladylips?" he asked, feeling a little more sure of Quinn's feelings for him.

"There is nothing going on between Sam and I," Quinn assured Puck, rolling up on to her knees. She took a pace forward to him, "please believe me," Quinn said with a smile, her arms going round Puck's neck and settling across his thighs facing him. "I wouldn't do that to you, or to Beth," she insisted between sweet kisses to Puck's cheeks, his nose, his eyelids before settling on his lips. Quinn felt Puck's hands settle on her hips. They both felt a lot better.

"Let's all welcome back Puck," Mr Schue called, bringing the class to order. "It's been quiet without you," he said with a smile.

"Thanks Mr Schue," Puck replied with a smile at Quinn, giving her hand a little squeeze. "Seems to me like you need some Puckasaurus in here, I mean, duets? Again? Seriously?" he scoffed, "Mr Schue, you really need to get some new ideas up in here," he grinned looking around the room.

"Thank you, Puck," Mr Schue nodded. "Time to hear from our last duet pair, Quinn and Sam. Whenever you're ready," he said, his arm indicating the floor.

Sam and Quinn took their places, Sam with his guitar, Quinn helping to play it. When it came to the last part Quinn danced over to where Puck sat in the front row and perched on one of his knees, her arm around his shoulders, looking into his eyes. Sam stopped singing and left Quinn to sing it herself.

"I'm lucky I'm in love with my best friend  
Lucky to have been where I have been  
Lucky to be coming home again

I'm lucky we're in love in every way  
Lucky to have stayed where we have stayed  
Lucky to be coming home someday"

Quinn gave Puck a tiny kiss then she and Sam continued with the harmonies for a few seconds, Quinn still perched on Puck's thigh, his hand on her hip, squeezing lightly.

"How was that," Quinn began her question, staring at Puck with a slight smile, then she turned to the teacher, "Mr Schue?" she finished.

"Good job, both of you," Mr Schue said, clapping, seeing that he actually could have caused a big problem for Puck and Quinn by being just a little bored and playing with their lives. "Next class, I want you to….yes Puck?" he asked, seeing Puck's spare hand raise in the air.

"I have something ready for the next class," Puck told the teacher and the class. "But there is something I need to do today, can I be excused please, Mr Schue?" he asked.

Mr Schue noted the look of determination in Puck's eyes. He'd heard of Quinn's run in with David Karofsky and assumed that's what Puck wanted to deal with. "Fine, you're excused," Mr Schue nodded. He caught at Puck's arm as he passed to leave the choir room. "Take care of yourself Puck, don't let Karofsky get the upper hand. You need to be in school not excluded, ok?" he said quietly. Puck nodded and left.

Behind him, Finn, Sam, Mike, Kurt and Artie all made their way to the door. "Karofsky won't be alone, Mr Schue. Puck shouldn't be either," Finn told the teacher with a shrug.

"I never saw you leave," Mr Schue said, turning the other way. He hoped they all knew what they were doing. He really hoped that Karofsky would be taken down a peg or two. The photo-shopped pictures that Karofsky had posted of Quinn on the school's website were quite an embarrassment for her. He truly wanted to believe the 'photo-shopped' story, he was blatantly ignoring the other story that was going around, that the pictures were real.

Puck found Karofsky in the weight room, unluckily he was not alone. "Out," Puck announced to Karofsky's band of henchmen. "This is between me and him," he told them, his eyes never leaving Karofsky, his smug face begging for Puck's fist to land in the middle of it.

Karofsky nodded for his goons to leave the weight room. They found their match waiting for them in the locker room. Puck closed the door behind them. "Want to tell my why you thought it was cool to threaten Quinn?" Puck asked, stepping just a little closer to Karofsky, crowding him a little. "I'm waiting," Puck told him. "No?" he asked, "nothing to say? She just imagined it then?" he asked, sarcasm coming through. "So I'm just going to kick your ass for nothing then?" Puck asked. "I can live with that," he shouted as he pounced. Karofsky didn't stand a chance. As Karofsky lay on the floor, his nose bleeding, feeling dazed and confused, Puck squeezed his cheeks. "If you _ever_ speak to Quinn again it better be to apologise," he advised the almost weeping Karofsky. "If I were you, I wouldn't even try it. Just stay the hell away from her. Got it?" he ground out through clenched teeth, shoving up and away from Karofsky. "Just stay away from her," he repeated as he opened the door and walked into the locker room. "We're done," he told his friends, each group staring at each other. Karofsky's friends all ran to help him and New Directions left the locker room. "That goes for you too Sam," Puck said almost conversationally. "Quinn is _my_ girl, _mine_," he repeated, "and I don't share. Ever," he said quietly just before they rejoined the girls.


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: No claim to ownership of anything relating to the show known as Glee or the character names. How they are depicted here is mainly from my imagination.**

**A/N: A massive apology, Noah Puckerman style. And a major hit from Karofsky. **

**Apologies in advance for inconsistencies with actual law. It suits my story for this to be the case. **

Puck came home from work with a huge bunch of flowers.

"They're beautiful, Noah," Miriam said with a smile as he came in the door. "I take it they aren't for your wonderful, endlessly patient mother?" she teased.

Puck blushed a little and shook his head. "Where's-where's Quinn?" he asked nervously, slightly breathlessly, his mouth dry and his heart beating madly in his chest.

"She's outside with Beth and Leah," Miriam told him, nodding backwards towards the backyard.

Puck nodded and blew out a breath before going out to the backyard. Miriam watched through the patio doors. She saw Quinn's face light up when he handed the flowers to her. She couldn't hear what he was saying but it obviously meant something really special to Quinn.

Quinn saw Puck come out to the yard. "Look, Beth," Quinn said, leaning towards her baby in her swing, "daddy's home," she smiled, straightening up.

"Hey," Puck said nervously. "I…errr….these are for you," he said in a rush, thrusting the flowers towards Quinn without any finesse.

Quinn's face lit up with pleasure. "Oh," she breathed taking the flowers in her arms. "They're beautiful. Thank you," she said, her voice cracking just a little. "But why?" she asked, a little puzzled. Quinn closed her eyes and took a long, appreciative sniff of the fragrant, multi coloured bouquet.

"Because," Puck shrugged awkwardly, swallowing hard. "I'm sorry that Karofsky got hold of your phone," he replied uncomfortably, frowning a little, looking at her denim clad legs, the ballet flats on her feet, anywhere rather than her face, he couldn't meet her gaze yet, he still had to say it yet, still had to admit it. "I'm sorry that he looked at the stuff on it, that he did what he did with it and that I wasn't there to protect you," he said, finally looking up into her bright, glistening eyes. "It was all my fault, I'm so sorry. I should never have put you in that position and I want you to know that I really am truly sorry."

"I could have refused," Quinn said quietly, a little smile on her face, looking shyly at Puck. "I didn't want to refuse, I _chose_ not to refuse and I could have deleted them," she admitted. "And they couldn't actually _see_ anything," Quinn reminded him. Even though Quinn had been naked when the pictures were taken - they were shot pointing upwards, from just below her boobs, she'd had one arm across her chest covering almost everything and her other hand thrust into her hair, pouting sexily, sensuously down at Puck - everything essential was covered. Just barely, but it was covered.

Puck's shy, slightly embarrassed smile appeared when he heard that. He stepped closer, took Quinn in his arms and hugged her tight, the flowers between them. "It was awesome, taking those pictures," Puck whispered into her ear. "The best part is that even though everyone has seen them, they have no idea what else we were doing at the time," he continued, trying to hold in the grin. When he'd taken the pictures, Puck had been laid on his back, occupied with other matters, counting backwards from one hundred to stop himself from exploding too soon. The impulse to record the moment had been impossible to ignore. He'd grabbed the first phone he could reach, he hadn't wanted to move too much and possibly ruin the moment, then he'd looked up at her, snapping pictures as she posed until just a few seconds later when he'd dropped the phone to grip her hips, forcing a fast paced rhythm. And then they'd both shattered. Exploded. Kissed. Slept.

Puck leaned back a little and looked at Beth in her swing, one arm still around Quinn. "How's my beautiful little girl today?" he asked her, smiling and signing to her one handed. Beth squealed and waved her arms and legs enthusiastically making the swing rock about from side to side.

Puck knelt in front of Beth, and pushed her gently, catching the swing each time it came towards him, bringing her close to kiss her nose. Beth chuckled madly. Quinn looked on with an indulgent smile on her face. "I'm going to go put these in water," she told Puck, leaving him in the yard with Beth and Leah.

"They are _beautiful_," Miriam told Quinn as she stepped into the kitchen. "What on earth did you do to deserve those?" she asked, curiosity getting the better of her. "Or what did Noah do that he had to apologise for?" she added, her lips pursed to hide a smile, one eyebrow raised.

"Nothing," Quinn fibbed. "They're just because," she told Miriam with a smile and a shrug. Quinn didn't want to admit to Miriam what they were really for, she didn't want to get either of them into trouble with Puck's mom.

After Quinn had arranged the flowers in a vase and put them in the living room she went back outside. She let Puck know what she had told his mom. "Crap," he whispered back. "Better tell dad not to mention it then," he said, his nose screwed up.

"Did your dad tell you to buy the flowers?" Quinn asked, suddenly feeling as though they weren't quite so special.

"No," Puck denied. "He asked me why I'd bought them for you and I told him," he admitted.

"You share a lot with your dad these days, don't you?" Quinn commented, sitting at the table on the patio. Puck came to join her, Beth watching both of them, Leah now pushing her gently from behind.

"Yeah," Puck agreed. "I know we've talked a lot over the last few months, got close again ever since Beth was born, but last week was," he shrugged, looking around for the answers. "It's like last week, I felt like he was really _proud_ of me, you know? Like he appreciated what I was doing, what I could do," he said quietly. "He even thanked me for being one of Grandpa's pallbearers."

"It must have been an honour to be asked to do that," Quinn acknowledged, her hand covering Puck's on his thigh.

Puck nodded, chewing his lip. "It was," he replied, his voice a little gruff, blinking and looking away from Quinn, swallowing hard, trying to keep the emotion he felt from bubbling over.

"It's ok to cry, you know," Quinn said quietly. "It doesn't make you less of a man if you show emotion," she advised, squeezing his hand just a touch. Quinn felt Puck's fingers open to catch the tips of hers between them, as they curved over his, an answering little press from him. It was enough. He knew that she would never ridicule him if he did lose it and cry in front of her. And he appreciated that.

Puck cleared his throat and changed the subject. "Did Coach Sylvester come up with any new stunts for you to perform at the game on Friday?" he asked.

"Urgh, yes," Quinn groaned, rolling her eyes. "She must think we're made of rubber or something," she complained.

"Why? What's she got you doing?" he asked, grateful that Quinn had been subtle enough, understanding enough, to just go with it.

Quinn spent half an hour describing the moves, standing up and demonstrating some of the positions she had to be in for the new routine. Puck laughed at the faces she pulled. "You'll be brilliant, you know that," he assured her. "You always look amazing when you're standing at the top of the heap, all your underlings holding you up," Puck's voice got a little huskier as he gripped her hips and pulled her down onto his lap, facing him. "Queen of all she surveys," he whispered, leaning forward to kiss her.

"Dinner," Miriam called through the open patio doors. "It's your favourite, Noah," she added, "don't let it get cold," she said, going back into the kitchen.

"Have you stopped kissing yet?" Leah asked. "'Cos I want to get my dinner and I don't want to walk past you in case its catching," she said, a scornful look on her face.

"In case what's catching?" Quinn asked over her shoulder, a little bemused.

"Love germs," Leah replied, rolling her eyes, looking at Quinn as if she were stupid. "Mom and dad are always kissing, you and Noah are always kissing, it's got everybody," she shuddered.

Puck looked at Quinn, both eyebrows raised. "News to me," he told Leah. "When are mom and dad always kissing?" he asked. "I never see them."

"Last week at Nana's," Leah explained. "When they thought everyone was asleep, they were kissing and kissing before mom came to bed with me."

"Oh," Puck replied, looking up at Quinn with a little smile. "Best not let them know you saw them," he advised Leah. "They might be embarrassed," he explained. Puck waited till his sister had gone into the house then pulled his phone out of his pocket. "Hey," he offered his usual greeting when his call was answered. "You know what we were talking about this afternoon?" he asked. Whoever was on the other end of the call must have agreed that they did. "I need you to keep that to yourself, don't tell mom about it, ok?" he asked, winking at Quinn, waving their joined hands about, slowly. "Because if you don't I might have to wait till we're all at Nana's for lunch on Sunday and ask you about kissing mom when you thought everyone was asleep," he bargained. "Thanks dad," Puck said then ended the call. "He won't say anything to my mom about it," he promised then pulled her close for a kiss. "Dinner," he reminded Quinn then slapped her ass to get her to stand up.

The following day at school Puck waited for some sort of retaliation from Karofsky or his crew. Nothing happened. At practice, the last one before the game, Coach Beiste reminded the players of their roles within the team, keeping a close eye on both Puck and Karofsky.

"I will not tolerate any fighting within the team," she announced. "If you can't keep personal issues outside this locker room then you don't deserve to be in here," she said, looking round. "There are fifty other guys ready and willing to take your spots," she reminded them. "Are we clear?" she shouted.

The team, as one, responded. "Yes, Coach."

"ARE WE CLEAR?" Coach bawled, even louder.

"YES, COACH," the team shouted back.

"Good," Coach Beiste acknowledged with a nod. "Pads on, on the field in five minutes. Karofsky, Puckerman, my office," she instructed, marching away from the group of young men.

In Coach Beiste's office, Karofsky stared at Puck with malevolent eyes. Puck stared back, looking totally unconcerned.

"I don't know what went down with you two yesterday," Coach Beiste said as she sat down at her desk, not inviting either one of them to take a seat. "But whatever it was, it ends now, you hear me?" she told them.

"I have no problem with that, Coach," Puck replied. "He acted, I answered. It's finished as far as I'm concerned," he said with a shrug.

"It's over," Karofsky said, his split lip making his unconvincing smile look gruesome.

"Make sure that it is," Coach repeated. "Puckerman, you're dismissed, get out on that field. Karofsky, a word."

"Yes Coach," Puck nodded and left the office. Outside he relayed to Finn and the others what Coach had said.

"You're lucky," Finn stated. "I heard that she kicked players off her last team for not eating together at lunchtime," he revealed, his eyes wide, not totally sure if he believed that piece of information himself.

"Right, whatever," Puck scoffed, putting his helmet on. "I'm not sitting and eating with that piece of shit," he insisted. "If that means I'm off the team, then I'm off the team," he told his friends.

Coach Beiste had waited till Puck was well out of ear shot before she told Karofsky exactly what she thought of him. "If I ever find out you've done something to intimidate or humiliate Quinn Fabray again, or anyone else for that matter," she told him, her finger pointing in his face, her eyes flashing with anger, "Puckerman will be the least of your worries," she promised. "Get out of here," she told Karofsky. He didn't say a word, he just left the office and got ready to go out on the field.

In the huddle Puck was aware of Karofsky just staring at him. During play, Karofsky managed to be distracted, looking the other way or being at totally the wrong area of the field each and every time he was supposed to be running interference for Puck. At the end of practice, Puck was battered and bruised. He sucked it up. Coach Beiste did not.

"What the hell sort of play do you call that?" she spat at Karofsky.

"I'm sorry Coach," Karofsky said, feigning ignorance. "I'm not sure I understand what you mean," he told Coach. "I did as you asked, I kept away from Puckerman," he said simply, "Isn't that what you meant?" Karofsky asked indolently.

"If you're not a team player Karofsky," Coach Beiste yelled, "you're off the team," she shouted before slamming into her office.

"Screw the team," Karofsky muttered under his breath, shoving his pads into his locker.

Puck bit his tongue. He held in what he wanted to say to that. For about ten seconds. "You'd love to do that, wouldn't you Karofsky?" Puck asked loudly.

"What?" Karofsky hissed, aware that silence had descended in the locker room, everyone waiting for round two. "What did you say?" he asked again.

"You didn't hear me the first time?" Puck asked, pretending total innocence. "I said that you'd love to screw the team," he repeated, expanding on what he'd originally said, just to get his meaning across.

Karofsky glanced around self-consciously before demanding Puck retract what he'd said.

"Why?" Puck asked. "We all know you bat for the other side," he said with a huge grin, looking round his team mates for support and getting it in the form of high fives, laughs and murmurs of agreement. "We've all seen you checking us out in the showers. Sorry dude, you're just not my type," Puck laughed looking Karofsky up and down disdainfully. "Nah, man boobs are just gross," he said with an exaggerated shudder, "give me a real woman any day," causing another wave of laughter to be directed at Karofsky.

Karofsky growled and threw himself at Puck. He was grabbed by several members of the football team. "You better watch your back Puckerman," Karofsky warned, his eyes wild with temper. "You just better watch it," he shouted.

Walking down the hall towards Glee Puck was feeling just a little ashamed of himself. He knew that most of the football team hadn't even had suspicions about Karofsky. It was just unfortunate for David Karofsky that his surname was particularly uncommon in Lima and when Paul had been regaling Puck and Jim about the new young cub he'd fallen head over heels for in Lima's one and only gay bar, well, Puck knew he had ammunition to fire whenever he needed it. He hadn't thought he'd have to use it quite so soon though. Still, if Karofsky protested too much, like he seemed to be doing right now, and Puck could produce evidence, like he had in his locker, as well as a drawing he'd 'borrowed' from Paul, it added weight to Quinn's 'Karofsky is a liar' statement. And as much as Puck would always be a team player, his family would always, always come first.

"Alright Puck," Mr Schue said, smiling at him as he waited, guitar across his body, ready to give his promised performance. "What do you have for us today?" Mr Schue asked, giving Puck a chance to explain his choice.

"As you know, I like to do songs by Jewish artists," Puck replied with a smile. "This one is by Mr Billy Joel," he said as the band started to play. The energetic, catchy song was a hit with everyone, the whole team up and dancing, especially Quinn after Puck had run up to the top row where she sat, to sing right to her about her white confirmation dress and her gold cross. She grinned and gave a little shoulder shimmy, then stood up dancing with Santana. They'd all laughed and clapped along when he finished. "And it's all true, Mr Schue," Puck said, slightly out of breath, "I'm sure your mother said something like that," he grinned at Quinn. She laughed and nodded, her mother probably had mentioned something about Puck destroying her reputation.

Friday's game was epic. From the routine that the Cheerios performed before the football team ran out onto the field, to the first two quarters, which saw the Titans up by twelve points to the half time show. Puck managed to sneak out to the tunnel to watch Quinn and the squad perform the elaborate and potentially Nationals wining routine. She looked amazing, unstoppable. Hot.

Back on the sidelines ready to cheer the team on in the third quarter, Quinn sensed someone behind her. "You might want to look away," Karofsky said, close to her ear, "right about now. Oops, too late, the show's already started," he crowed joyfully.

Quinn looked up in stunned silence, her pompoms held under her chin, her mouth open wide. She watched the big screen above the scoreboard, seeing a huge version of her naked self, posing and pouting, winking and smiling.

The deadly silence that had descended on the whole place suddenly erupted into raucous cheers and wolf whistles as the live feed camera panned to Quinn, who was looking round, trying to find her escape. She felt two arms grip around her, knew who they belonged to and sank into them.

Puck hustled her off the field, into the waiting embrace of his mother in the tunnel. "I have to get back," Puck told her. "Will you be ok?" he saw Quinn's very faint nod. "The girls' locker room is down there," he pointed, looking at his mom. "As soon as the game is over," he promised, "I'll be as quick as I can. Ok?" he said, kissing Quinn's forehead. She still hadn't opened her eyes, had barely even taken a breath, her whole body paralysed with shock and shame.

Puck ran back to the sidelines, waiting to be put into play. Finn was at his side in a second. "How is she?" he asked.

Puck shrugged. "My mom's with her, she hasn't said anything yet," he said, looking up at Finn. "Karofsky is going to pay for this," he told him. Finn did not want to argue with Puck about that. The look in his eyes said everything. Puck looked back towards the crowd. He saw his sister and his dad, Beth in his arms. Ethan watched his son, hoping that he wouldn't have been put off his game by what had just happened.

On the field facing their opponents, the usual trash talk was being slammed back and forth. "I hope the naked hottie is waiting for me when we put you clowns on your ass," one of the other team called, laughing. "I could really show her a good time," another voice added. Puck growled. The second the ball hit Finn's hand Puck pounced. He hit the first guy running and slammed right through him. He was relentless. Puck was halfway to the end zone, he merely needed to glance up to jump and catch the throw from Finn, taking the ball all the way, slamming it down, adrenaline racing through him. The congratulations and cheers from his own team didn't even register. Puck wanted to get this game over with. He needed to get back to Quinn. And God help Karofsky when Puck got hold of him.

Titans won the game by the biggest margin they had ever recorded. Puck did not stay on the field to celebrate with the others. He ran to the girls' locker room, bursting in without a thought to any of the other Cheerios.

"Get the hell out of my locker room, Puckerman," screeched Sue Sylvester, standing with her fists on her hips, scowling.

"Where's Quinn?" he asked, panting, looking round for her. "Where is she?" he demanded.

"I'm here," Quinn's small, tearful voice came from the huddle of semi naked girls. In any other moment Puck might have been living his dream. Being here in the girls' locker room, every one of them in a state of undress. But he only had eyes for Quinn.

Puck pushed through the crowd and grabbed Quinn to him, hugging her, comforting her, his thumb brushing aside the tears. "It'll be ok," he whispered against her hair, "it'll be ok," he repeated, murmuring over and over to her.

Quinn's shuddering sobs had all but ceased. She clung to Puck. "You have to go, get changed," she managed to tell Puck. "I just want to go home," she said quietly. "I want to get home to Beth," she sniffed.

"Ok," Puck nodded, looking into her tear filled eyes. He kissed her tenderly, their lips pressed together, noses side by side. "I'll be back soon," he told Quinn. "Wait here for me," he said, looking to Brittany and Santana to watch over her for him. Santana nodded, not needing to be asked.

Puck entered the guys' locker room. "How is she?" Finn asked quietly.

"Destroyed," Puck answered. "Devastated," he added. "Karofsky is going to pay for this," he promised. Finn nodded firmly in agreement.

Puck knocked and waited to be admitted to the girls' locker room. He took Quinn's hand and left with her. She allowed him to lead her to the parking lot without even glancing up, she didn't want to see a single person look her way.

"Oh, hey," a voice called over the lot. "It's the porno queen," he shouted, followed by numerous other male voices all shouting something rude, crude and downright dirty.

"Oh dude," another voice yelled, "you have to share, that's just not fair," it was followed by a lot of mocking laughter. "Give me a call when you're through with this loser, I got something right here for you honey," one guy shouted, thrusting his hips suggestively in Quinn's direction.

"Just ignore them all," Puck advised, helping Quinn into the car. "Let's get home, Beth will be waiting for us, ok?" he reminded Quinn. "Everything will be ok, alright?" he asked, lifting her chin to look into her eyes before going round and getting in himself. He drove home as fast as the speed limit allowed, every light working in their favour.

The second they walked into the house, Miriam grabbed Quinn and hugged her breathless. She hadn't wanted to be chased out of the locker room but Quinn had insisted that the girls would take care of her till Puck could bring her home. "Are you ok?" she asked Quinn now. Quinn nodded and sniffed.

"As well as I can be," she replied hoarsely. "I know who did this. _We_ know who did this," she corrected.

"And his biggest mistake is that he's a senior and he's already eighteen and I'm pretty sure that displaying a picture of a naked minor is a criminal act. He already posted those pictures on the internet, surely that constitutes distributing child pornography or something, don't you think?" Puck asked, looking round at both of his parents.

"I'm not sure, let me call someone," Ethan replied, walking into the kitchen, scrolling through the contacts on his phone. "You might have something there Noah," he said as he came back into the living room. "Tony has it all in hand," he told them, looking at Quinn.

Quinn couldn't meet anyone's gaze. She felt uncomfortable in her own body as well as her clothes. She felt dirty, unclean, she wanted to get in the shower and never get out. "Hey," Ethan said softly, his hand resting gently on Quinn's shoulder, "this is not your fault," he told her, looking straight into Quinn's eyes when she slowly, shyly raised them. "It isn't your fault," he repeated.

"Yes it is," Quinn refuted. "Karofsky took the pictures from my phone. _My_ phone," she said with a slight sob. "If we hadn't taken them in the first place, he couldn't have done this," she reasoned. "We're as guilty as he is," she added, before bursting into tears again.

"The only thing you're guilty of is being stupid," Miriam insisted, taking Quinn back in her arms. "Both of you," she included her son, giving him a stern glare. "You're not the first people to have ever taken rude pictures, probably not the first in your class, never mind the first in your school," she said with a smile. "You're just the first ones who've been stung by them," she added, roughly rubbing Quinn's shoulders, feeling her laugh for just a second before another sob hit.

The weekend was a tough one. Beth picked up on the tension and was extremely fractious. It got a bit better when she finally cut the two teeth that had been bothering her for weeks. She looked so cute, grinning and showing off the two tiny pearly white stumps.

By Sunday lunchtime even Nana Connie had heard about the photos. "Oh yes," she said with a nod. "It was all over temple yesterday," Connie grinned at Quinn, hugging her head close, kissing her cheek. "They're all just jealous, sweetie," she told Quinn, still grinning. "If I had boobs like those, I'd show them off too," she winked, catching sight of her grandson's appreciative smile that he was trying to hide with his water glass.

Ethan followed Puck outside when he took the garbage out for his Nana. "Just because this is all out in the open, doesn't mean you can snitch on me and your mom," he reminded Puck. "We had a deal, _I_ didn't tell your mom," he said nervously.

"Relax Grandpa," Puck teased his dad. "I'm not going to snitch on you," he agreed. "Leah on the other hand…" he trailed off laughing, racing back into the house ahead of his dad who was still trying to gag Puck with his hand.

Connie frowned at them both, considering their antics childish and unbecoming. Which she told them. And it made them both burst out laughing. Quinn felt herself relax for the first time out of the whole weekend.

Monday morning was a nightmare. Quinn felt so ill, she truly did not want to go to school. "You can't let him win this way," Puck insisted. "If you skip today it'll be ten times worse tomorrow, a hundred times worse the day after that," he said, his hands on her shoulders, massing gently, trying to give her encouragement.

"Noah's right," Miriam agreed softly. "You have to do this," she said drawing in a breath and drawing herself up, unconsciously demonstrating to Quinn how she could do it. "You have to show them all that you can rise above. You're Quinn Fabray, right?" she asked, smiling at Quinn before hugging her tightly. "You can do this," Miriam told her again. Quinn nodded firmly. She didn't feel confident, she was terrified.

Principal Figgins called a special assembly to take place instead of first period. He asked Mr Schue to do the talking.

"We are all fully aware of what happened at the game on Friday night," Mr Schue began, holding either side of the wooden lectern, gazing across the students seated in the auditorium. "Principal Figgins has been informed this morning that one student from this school has been arrested for possession of indecent photographs of a minor and sent to a Young Offenders facility," he informed them, his gaze resting briefly on Quinn, hoping that she could take comfort from the fact that Karofsky would not be able to bother her any more. "I would urge you, each and every one of you," he added looking round sternly, "that if you too are in possession of any copies of those pictures, delete them, destroy them and please, let this be a lesson to you. Something done in fun, in the heat of the moment can be the worst lapse in judgement of your life. Don't do it," he ended simply, stepping away from the podium and walking off the stage.

Quinn breathed a huge sigh of relief. She knew she would still have to face the stares of the other students at school but at least she knew that Puck would be by her side. Karofsky was gone, he couldn't hurt her now. She knew that Puck would defend her, as he always had done, but she also knew that if Karofsky had still been around it would have become an endless grudge match. They had to move forward, get on with their lives, and they would. Miriam had been right this morning. She could do this, she could do anything, she was Quinn Fabray, right?


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: AU version of junior year. No claim to ownership of Glee or the known characters, no gain made with this work of fiction.**

**A/N: Are things going smoothly? Let's throw a spanner in the works and see what happens...*see note at end of chapter.**

"No, I just don't think we should go ahead with it," Quinn insisted, feeling the frustration of not being listened to rising in her.

Puck sighed. Same argument, different day. "Not this again. Of _course_ we should," he said sighing again. "How can you even _think _that she would be better off without it?" he asked, his voice getting just a little louder, the anger at Quinn's stubbornness growing yet again.

Miriam, just passing the living room, caught his eye, Puck shook his head. No, there was nothing his mom could do right now, Quinn just had to get this stupid idea out of her system then they could start the family counselling. If, at the end of all that, after the appointments, the tests and the counselling, Quinn still didn't feel that cochlear implant was right for Beth, then they'd have to…well, they'd have to think of something.

"So she's still dead set against it?" Ethan asked quietly as Miriam walked back into the kitchen.

"Yes," Miriam replied, sitting back down at the kitchen table with a frown on her face. "If only we knew _why_ she's suddenly so against it," she sighed. "When Beth was first diagnosed she was all for it. What's changed?" Miriam asked, the question more to herself than to Ethan. "There's got to be a reason," she added, looking for an answer from him that time. Ethan shrugged, as mystified as everyone else. "Still, regardless, we have to support them both, even though I don't particularly agree with Quinn's choices right now," Miriam continued quietly. "When do they get old enough to not need us anymore?" she asked, her head falling to her arms on the table, feeling tired. "I feel old. Do you feel old? You should, you're older than me," she pouted.

"Thank you," Ethan smiled, just a hint of sarcasm in his tone. "I'll ask my mom to let you know when me and Freda stop needing her," he teased, his smile getting a bit bigger at the face that Miriam pulled. "And might I remind you that you're only seven months younger than me?" he asked with a huge fake smile. "The big four oh is coming up pretty fast," he added, knowing that Miriam was dreading turning forty with something approaching obsession.

"You'll be forty before I will, old man," Miriam scoffed, trying to hide the sharp intake of breath that always happened when she thought about that figure. God she was dreading it, a reminder that in some cultures she would be considered middle aged. "Aarrggghh," she screamed silently. "Where has my youth, my life gone. I sit here, a mother, a grandmother, and life is passing me by. I don't want to die alone," she thought, looking at Ethan, watching him playing at the table with Leah, drawing for her, drawing her.

"You ok?" Ethan asked, catching Miriam looking at him weirdly.

"Yes, erm, Leah honey, could you give your father and I a minute, please?" Miriam asked, blushing a little.

Leah got up from the table without a grumble and skipped off to her room.

"Can I ask you something?" Miriam said, almost shyly.

"Of course," Ethan replied, putting the tops on all the pens he'd been using with Leah.

"What are we doing?" she asked. "I mean, you and me, what are _we_ doing?" she repeated.

Ethan sat back, he'd been waiting for this. He hoped it was going to go the way he wanted. "Well," he started. "I don't know about you, but I feel as though I'm courting you all over again," he admitted, shyly. "Trying to win your heart," he added, sliding his hand up Miriam's arm, leaning close to her. "Am I succeeding?" he whispered just before his lips found hers.

"Mom," Puck said as he burst into the kitchen, seeing his parents break apart. "Sorry," he said, turning away then he turned back. "No. I _am_ sorry, but this is really important," he added.

"What's wrong Noah?" Ethan asked, his arm still resting along Miriam's shoulders.

"Quinn's still refusing to go for the counselling, she says that she won't give her agreement even for the tests and stuff," Puck told his parents as he paced up and down beside the kitchen table. "It has to be both of us giving our consent, and she won't," he was almost bouncing, energy fizzing off him like sparks of electricity. He was furious. "How dare she do this?" Puck thought to himself. Since Beth had first been diagnosed they had been heading towards this point and now that they'd reached it, Quinn had done a complete U turn and refused to even consider it. What the hell? Were they both parents or was Quinn the only one with any say in their daughter's future?

"I think you should take a step back, take a breath then once she's put Beth down for her nap, go in there and ask again why she doesn't want to go ahead with the surgery," Miriam advised gently. "There has to be a reason, surely," she said.

Puck took a deep breath, standing still with his eyes closed. He breathed deeply for a few moments and felt himself calming. "Thanks mom," Puck said quietly. He didn't want this to become another huge issue, it had to be something they could work through, as a family, as parents, as a couple, they had to work through it.

Miriam and Ethan watched their son leave the kitchen. "Think they'll be able to talk without it becoming a screaming match?" Ethan asked, just a hint of a smile in his voice.

"No," Miriam answered, turning to look at Ethan, a little smile on her face too. "He's too much like you to accept that anyone else has an opinion," Miriam reminded him. "You always think you're right too," she added.

"I don't," Ethan denied. "Much," he qualified it, he knew that Miriam was right, so did she, the raised eyebrow in his direction told him that. "Alright, so I have issues with admitting that I'm not right," Ethan said with a smile.

"And you still have to say it in a way that doesn't sound like you're wrong," Miriam laughed, pushing Ethan's shoulder a touch. Ethan laughed quietly along with her. And then they heard it. The mumble of voices that rose and rose and became the screaming match that they'd feared would happen. "At least Beth isn't using her hearing aids today so she won't hear them arguing," Miriam commented sadly, her chin in her hand, elbow on the table, Beth had a slight infection in both ears so she was having a few days without wearing her hearing aids.

"Quinn, that's just ridiculous," Puck shouted. "You're being an idiot," he added, then growled.

"Don't call me an idiot," Quinn screamed back. "_You're_ not her mother, you didn't carry her inside you for nine months, you don't _know_," she yelled.

"No," Puck yelled back, "I'm just her _father_ and I'm not supposed to have an opinion? Have a say in her future? Where do you get off making all the decisions for her?" he demanded.

"Because _I'm_ her _mother_," Quinn screeched then slammed out of the house, taking off down the street, crying as she went.

"Let her go," Ethan advised quietly as Puck went to open the door and go after her. "Just let her go, let her calm down. You need to calm down too and then later, when she comes back, we'll talk it all out. By the way, me and your mother are Switzerland," he added with a little huff of a laugh. "Welcome to the world of parenthood," Ethan told his son, patting him on the shoulder, "and of being in an adult relationship," he added. "And let me tell you, as the guy in the relationship, you will _always_ be wrong, even when you're right you'll be wrong, it's some sort of hormone thing that only women have that alters the perspective, moves the bar, makes them always right, even though we never, ever admit it," he confided quietly, seeing the hint of a smile forming on his son's face.

"Thanks dad," Puck sighed, his hand falling away from the door handle. "Think she'll come back soon?" he asked, already getting worried about Quinn and the state she'd left the house in. Both Puck and Ethan turned to look upstairs as Beth cried, obviously wakened from her nap. "I mean, how can she walk out on her daughter?" he asked, getting annoyed all over again. "She knew Beth would be waking up soon and she still left. Is that the act of a caring mother?" he demanded with a scowl, walking away before his dad could answer, going to see to his daughter's needs.

"He just won't _listen_, Mercedes," Quinn cried onto her friend's shoulder. "He doesn't care about _my_ feelings, he only thinks about himself, what _he_ wants, what he wants for Beth, he doesn't get that I'm just so _scared_," she added, breaking down in huge gulping sobs.

"Does he know where you are?" Mercedes asked gently, comforting Quinn, patting and rubbing her back, letting her cry it out.

"No, I just left," Quinn admitted. "And Beth will be awake by now," she sobbed even harder, feeling so, so guilty for leaving her daughter. "She'll be wondering where her mommy is," she wailed.

"So what do you want to do?" Mercedes asked. "Do you want me to drive you home?" she queried.

"Would you?" Quinn mumbled onto Mercedes' shoulder, shuddering and sniffing.

"Sure," she answered with a smile. "Come on, let's go," Mercedes said, giving Quinn a little squeeze. "And I think you should try talking to Puck. Tell him why you're so scared, he'll get it," she assured Quinn, seeing her look of disbelief. "He will, he'll understand."

"You really think so?" Quinn asked. "Or are you only saying that to make me feel better?" she said sadly.

"No, I really think he'll get it," Mercedes replied with a firm nod.

Quinn heaved a big sigh as Mercedes pulled up outside the house. She squinted up at it, at Beth's bedroom window and the two windows next to it, the bedroom she shared with Puck. Quinn sighed again.

"You know," Quinn began, still looking up at the house. "We never have any privacy, not anymore," she sighed. "Not since Puck's Grandpa died. His mom never stays at his Nana's anymore, Ethan stays here more often than he stays at his own place. Leah's been to stay at Connie's a few times, but that's it. There's always someone around, it's like we never have any time on our own, even to have an argument," she said with another big sigh. "And that makes me sound like such an ungrateful bitch," she added with an even bigger sigh, feeling more than a little ashamed of herself.

Mercedes rubbed Quinn's shoulder, comforting her. "Do you want me to come in with you?" she asked quietly. Quinn turned a little to look at her friend with watery eyes and a trembling chin. All she could do was nod. "Come on then," Mercedes said softly, getting out of her side.

Quinn got out of the car slowly. "Mercedes?" she whispered. Mercedes turned to look at Quinn. "Thank you," she said, just as quietly. Mercedes nodded, her lips in a tight smile, feeling very sorry for her friend.

The front door opened. Puck stood in the doorway and watched Quinn come closer. "Hey," he said softly. "You ok now?" he asked, hoping for an affirmative answer.

"Yeah," Quinn replied, very quietly. "We need to talk," she added.

"Yep we do," Puck thought to himself, he refrained from stating the obvious and just nodded, his lips tight together. "Are you coming in, Mercedes?" he asked, stepping back.

"Just for a while," Mercedes answered, seeing a flash of understanding in Puck's eyes. He got it. Quinn was feeling just a touch isolated. He on the other hand, was in his childhood home, his mom, his dad and his sister were here. Quinn probably felt like she had no one. It wasn't true, but that's probably what she felt. Puck got it.

Mercedes went into the kitchen with Miriam and Ethan. Leah and Beth were with them. Puck and Quinn went into the living room.

"I'm sorry," Quinn began quietly as soon as Puck shut the door. "For running out," she added, needing him to understand that that's what she was sorry for. "But I still can't give my consent for Beth to have the tests or the surgery," she told him.

"But why?" Puck asked. "Can't you just tell me why? Explain it to me?" he really needed to know.

"Because from everything I've learned, all the research I've done," Quinn replied, "I just feel that Beth won't find her place in either world, in the Deaf world or the hearing world," she explained. "There are some people who believe that by us making the decision for her, it's tantamount to abuse. Deafness isn't life threatening, it's not like she needs heart surgery. Cochlear implant is a _choice_," she said, still not daring to make eye contact with Puck. "We should wait till Beth is older and can make the decision herself, if she wants the implant or not," she finished then sat down, her arms crossed defensively over her chest, looking away from Puck.

"So you don't want her to grow up with the benefit of at least some sort of hearing," Puck stated, "is that it?" he asked. "Why?" he demanded, his arms open wide, trying to gain understanding from somewhere. "There has to be something else," he insisted. "What other people think has never bothered you before," he reminded Quinn.

"Because I can't bear the thought of her being in pain," Quinn shouted as she jumped up, crying. "Alright? I don't want her to be hurt," she finished a little quieter, then sank back onto the sofa, sobbing. "I don't want, can't allow, anyone to hurt my baby," she cried through her tears.

Puck dropped instantly to Quinn's side pulling her into his arms. "Shhh," he comforted against her head. "It's ok," he murmured, stroking her back. "I get it, I do. I don't want her to be hurt or in pain either," he said with a sigh. "But I don't think we should condemn our daughter to a life of silence _just _because we were too afraid to take a chance for her," he said, his voice intense. He took both of Quinn's hands in his. "Hey," he whispered, making her look into his eyes. "Going for the counselling will give us the answers. If after that we don't feel it's right for her," he shrugged, "then we don't go ahead. Simple. But we have to agree, we have to do the best for our baby. We just have to," he said quietly, hugging her close.

Quinn broke down in tears, crying against Puck's shoulder. "I'm sorry," she whispered, "so sorry. I'm sorry I ran out," she cried.

"It's ok," Puck said quietly, kissing her head. "But don't do it again," he added with a hint of a laugh. "I can take most things," he said, lifting her chin to look into her eyes again, "but I can't take you leaving me. Don't do it again. Please?" he asked. Quinn hugged Puck back.

"Is it safe to come in yet?" Ethan asked from the doorway.

Puck looked at his dad over his shoulder and smiled. "Yeah, it's safe," he said. "I think we're agreed that we're going to have the tests and the counselling," he told his dad, looking down into Quinn's damp eyes. "We'll make a decision about the surgery once we have all the information," he said with the hint of a smile, "joint decision," he added, his smile getting a little bigger when Quinn nodded at his words.

"I'm going to go," Mercedes said with a smile. "You're alright now?" she asked, looking between both Puck and Quinn. They both nodded back.

"Thank you Mercedes," Quinn said quietly. "Thank you for listening to me, for letting me cry all over you," she said with a little snort of laughter, walking over to hug her friend before she left. "Bye," Quinn called as Mercedes got into her car and drove away.

Puck was in the living room with Beth in his arms, Ethan had just handed her over to him, when Quinn walked back in. "Erm, I just wanted to tell you that Leah's going to a sleep over at your Nana's and I'm taking your mom out to dinner," Ethan said with a hint of a smile. "We may not be back tonight," he whispered loudly as Miriam came up behind him.

Miriam walked past Ethan into the living room, rolling her eyes at him. "There's no _may_ about it," she insisted. "Quinn, honey, Mercedes told us," she said softly. "Now don't go getting upset, she wasn't betraying a confidence she was trying to help, and you're right," she added. "You two don't ever get any privacy, we'll have to see what we can do about that," Miriam said, hugging Quinn tightly.

"Now I feel like I'm chasing you out of your own home," Quinn cried, feeling like the worst ungrateful bitch ever created.

"Well, you're not," Ethan replied. "I get to take the woman I love out to dinner then have her to myself all night without fear of being overheard," he added with a laugh at Miriam's scandalised face.

Puck blushed and shook his head. "Dad, that was just a little more information than I was prepared for," he said with a grimace. Miriam blushed too. After tonight Miriam thought that there might possibly be some news to tell the family, they'd have to work on that, but all the signs were good.

Ethan drove Leah to Nana Connie's and came back for Miriam. Quinn had helped Miriam with her hair and had helped her to chose an outfit for her night out. "Something that says 'this is the woman you want to spend the rest of your life with. Again'" Miriam explained to Quinn while flicking through her wardrobe.

"How about this?" Quinn asked, pulling out a dress and coordinating jacket.

"Yep, that's it," Miriam agreed, hanging them up on the door. "Are you feeling a bit better now?" she asked Quinn over her shoulder as she held the skirt of the dress out a touch, wondering which shoes to wear with it.

"Mmm," Quinn answered. "I am. I feel a bit more in control," she sighed. "I mean, I know that even after the counselling it'll still be a few months before anything happens, if we decide to go ahead with the cochlear," she added, frowning a little. "And I suppose Puck's right, how can I condemn Beth to a life of silence just through my own fears," she admitted.

Miriam hid a smile. Noah would be thrilled to know that Quinn thought he was right about something. Not that she was likely to tell him, not after the tricks he'd pulled lately, even though he didn't know that she knew about them.

Puck answered Finn's call as Quinn gave Beth her bath. "No, we've got the house to ourselves for the first time in like, forever. We're just going to relax, get Beth to bed and have the night to ourselves, maybe watch a movie or something" he explained as he refused Finn's invitation. "Plus we don't have a baby sitter. But thanks for the invite buddy," he added with a grin. "Maybe next time, ok?" he said, he'd hate to be left out of the loop in the future just because they didn't want to party tonight.

"Whatever, see you at school next week," Finn replied with a sigh. Parties were much more fun when Puck showed up, he always managed to come up with something to do that was fun, exciting and possibly borderline legal.

"Who was that?" Quinn asked, carrying Beth downstairs in her pyjamas.

"Finn, inviting us to a party," Puck replied through a yawn as he stretched. "I refused for both of us," he told Quinn then he stepped towards her and kissed Beth's head. "Daddy has your supper ready," he told the little girl, signing to her as well as speaking. Beth readily identified the sign for milk and bounced in Quinn's arms. "I think it's cool that she recognises some of the stuff we say to her, I'm glad we do the sign classes," he told Quinn.

"Me too," Quinn added, still feeling just a touch awkward, uncomfortable after her behaviour earlier.

Beth drifted off to sleep after her antibiotic and her bottle. Puck carried her up to bed. When he came downstairs he brought a sketch pad and pencils with him. He wanted to draw Quinn. He'd thought about how he could have her pose for him. Despite the evening being fairly cool, the heating in the house made it unnecessary to have the fire lit. Puck lit it anyway, placed a few scatter cushions in front of it and turned the lights down low.

"Would you lie here for me?" Puck asked softly, "just here," he indicated the place. "I want to draw you. All of you," he added, in case she thought he just wanted to draw parts of her again. Good parts. Exciting parts. His favourite parts. The parts that made him groan. The parts that made him _grow_ - at least in one place anyway.

"How do you want me?" Quinn asked, recognising the distraction for what it was, a way for them to be together without descending back into the argument.

"Naked," Puck grinned, thinking it was worth a try. "Always naked," he said with an even bigger smile as Quinn slowly began to remove her clothes. Puck's warm hands moved and posed Quinn so that she lay exactly as he wanted her to. Then he forgot all about his sketch pad. Puck removed his clothes too.

For a long time they touched, kissed and stroked each other. "We probably should go upstairs," Puck whispered against Quinn's throat. "If we want to take this a bit further, we really, really need to go upstairs," he groaned with a little laugh.

Quinn allowed Puck to pull her up to her feet, she pressed her body close to his as they kissed again and again. Puck flicked the switch on the fire and the flames disappeared. He stepped backwards, Quinn still in his arms, their lips glued together. The whole way up the stairs they stuck close together, not as much as a slip of paper could get between them.

Puck lay Quinn across their bed. Without losing contact with her, Puck blindly reached for his drawer, his hand searching for a condom. He didn't want to break the kiss, he didn't want to turn away from Quinn. His fingers came up empty. He pulled away from her to look in his drawer. "Ah crap," he groaned. "My dad must have been helping himself again," he told Quinn with a frown. "Hold that thought," he said, dragging on sweatpants, t-shirt and sneakers. "I'll be twenty minutes, tops," he told her, dropping a kiss on her lips then leaning back for another longer, hotter kiss. "Oh God," he groaned, "he has a lot to answer for," he sighed, pulling away and picking up his phone and some money. "Twenty minutes," he promised, then jogged down the stairs and out of the front door.

An hour later, Quinn had lost patience, lost the mood and was planning revenge on Puck for leaving her hanging. She answered the phone when it rang. "He's been _what_?" Quinn demanded, sure she hadn't heard Ethan properly.

"Arrested," Ethan repeated. "Apparently he fit the description of a guy who robbed the drug store a couple of months ago. The same clerk was on duty tonight and when Noah walked in, he activated the silent alarm," he explained. "I'm at the police station with him right now," he assured Quinn. "It's totally bogus, we both know that, but he's been detained to take part in a line up," Ethan sighed. "Like he's not going to get picked out if he's the only one in it with a mohawk," he muttered more to himself than to Quinn. "He's already told me it's my fault he even had to go out tonight. I'm sorry," he added.

"Well, thanks for letting me know," Quinn said to Ethan in a stilted voice. "I was getting a little worried," she added, pure understatement, she thought to herself. Quinn hadn't been getting worried, she'd been getting mad. Furious. At least now she knew he hadn't just taken off as payback for her walking out during their argument. Still, it was a pretty shitty situation.

Miriam walked into the house just after Ethan had hung up. "Hi," she muttered to Quinn, sounding as pissed off as Quinn felt.

"Hey," Quinn replied with a sigh. "So, what do you make of all this?" she asked, flicking the switch on the coffee pot. "Do you think it'll get sorted out tonight?" she said with a frown.

"I hope so," Miriam replied. "You know, I've been thinking about it and I don't think Noah even had his mohawk when the robbery took place. Can you remember when he shaved his hair into that again?" she asked Quinn, really concentrating.

"It was about two or three weeks before school started," Quinn reminded Miriam. "Remember? He got the tattoo of Beth on his arm and had his hair shaved to try and distract you," she added with a snort of laughter and a roll of her eyes. She knew that Miriam didn't know yet that Puck had got another tattoo, this one in memory of his grandpa. Ethan and Puck had gone together and both of them had something done in memory of him. At least it was hidden under his shirt. Well, so far it was hidden. She wondered if even his dad knew about the third one.

"That's right," Miriam nodded, leaning forward in her seat. "That means it's mistaken identity for sure because the robbery took place at the end of July. Noah was still shaving his whole head in July," she finished, smiling triumphantly.

Quinn and Miriam were still sat at the kitchen table, drinking coffee two hours later when Puck and his dad came through the door. Miriam dived out of her seat. "What happened? What did they say? What's going to happen now?" she demanded, not giving either of them a chance to respond.

"I'm going to go shower," Puck sighed. "That place was filthy," he shuddered. "Dad can tell you everything," he told his mom as he walked to the stairs. He turned round and walked back to the kitchen as his mom sat back down. "You know? Even though I've done nothing wrong, I _feel_ like a criminal. They took my fingerprints, my DNA, my picture. They even took pictures of my tattoos, said they're identifying markers. How ridiculous is that?" he demanded crossly then walked back to the stairs, dragging his shirt off as he went.

Quinn glanced at Miriam's face. She seemed surprisingly calm to say she'd just had an eyeful of amazing artwork thrust upon her. Miriam turned to look at Quinn with her eyebrow raised in question.

"What?" Miriam demanded. "You don't for one second think I didn't know about that, did you?" she asked with a smirk.

Quinn looked at Miriam with narrowed eyes, her lips twisted just a touch. "Well, I know I didn't tell you about it," she said slowly. "Who told you?" she asked. Miriam glanced at Ethan. Quinn turned to look at Puck's dad, saw the embarrassed, slightly shamefaced look. "You told on him?" she cried.

"I got threatened," Ethan replied, sounding like a kid who'd just been caught doing something naughty. "You don't know what she threatened to cut off," he added in a much quieter voice.

"I can guess," Puck answered, walking back into the kitchen, still just in his sweatpants, his shirt draped over his shoulder. "I get threatened with the same thing all the time," he said, mock glaring at Quinn. "And for that dad, for ratting me out to mom, you owe me so much more than a box of condoms," he grinned. Puck turned his back on his mom, letting her get a better look at one of his newest pieces of work. "I know you think I'll regret it later in life," he acknowledged Miriam's worries, turning back around. "But I won't," he promised. "How could I ever regret my daughter," he passed his hand over his upper arm, "my grandpa," he nodded with a flick of his head over his shoulder, "or Quinn?" he added, dropping his shirt to reveal the tattoo that even Ethan didn't know about, 'Forever Quick' tattooed on the left side of his chest in beautiful italic script. "And I can't promise that there won't be more. I know you don't like them mom, but I do. It's my body," he shrugged, "me that has to live with them," he added, waiting for his mom to blow her top.

Surprisingly Miriam stayed quiet. She nodded a little as if trying to make her mind up, sort out her thoughts, find the words she wanted to say. "Well," she began, looking up at her son. "If I'm prepared to accept that my husband is covered in tattoos then I have to accept that my son will probably follow in his father's footsteps," she finished with a smile as her words sunk into Puck's brain.

"Your _husband_?" Puck asked, a beaming smile growing on his face. "Not your _ex_ husband?" he added, looking between his mom and dad. "You're getting married again?" he demanded, grinning at their shy smiles. "Cool," he breathed. "I get to be best man, right?" he demanded of Ethan.

Ethan shrugged. "I thought maybe your Nana and Aunt Freda could walk with me, you and Leah can walk with your mom," he said quietly, lifting Miriam's hand to his lips. "And yes, it'll be at Temple," he added, seeing Puck roll his eyes. "You won't get struck by lightening or come down with a plague just for stepping inside the synagogue, you know," he mocked.

Quinn looked surprised, her eyebrows almost in her hairline. "I wouldn't bet on that," she threw in quickly, leaning away from Puck as he went to grab her close. "Go shower," she ordered. "I'll be right behind you," she added as she stood up to follow him.

"Don't forget this," Ethan called softly, throwing a box to Quinn. "I felt bad about what happened, we stopped off at the petrol station on our way home, that's the biggest box they had," he said with a grin at her blushing face. As Quinn reached the bottom of the stairs she heard Ethan say something else. "I didn't bother for us," he told Miriam. "I thought maybe we could practice without them, see what happens," he added.

Miriam looked lovingly into his eyes, leaning forwards for their lips to meet. "I can live with that," she whispered. "I always wanted three kids," she reminded Ethan. "We already made two fantastic kids, maybe we'll get lucky again," she added against his lips.

Very quietly Quinn walked up the stairs, a huge grin on her face. She wouldn't tell Puck what his mom and dad were planning, she'd leave that up to them, if there was anything to tell in the near future. "Hey, that would be so cool, Beth getting a little aunt or uncle as a playmate. Weird but cool. Oh God. Could the world handle another Puck?" she thought to herself, just barely holding in the groan. "Probably not," she answered herself with a little giggle. Still, as long as the next baby in the family was Puck's sibling not his offspring, then Quinn could totally handle that. Would Puck be able to handle it? Maybe, maybe not. Time would tell.

*Based on the personal experience of one of my Deaf colleagues and her husband, also Deaf. They have a daughter (hearing) and a son (Deaf). Helen wanted it to happen, Jonathon thought it was abusing their son's rights as a Deaf person and taking away part of his identity. They had a lot of issues to work through before they agreed for him to have cochlear implants. I'm glad to say that they did work it out.


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: No claim to ownership of any original Glee material or songs.**

**A/N: A step towards Sectionals….**

"Dig if you will the picture,  
You and I engaged in a kiss  
The sweat of your body covers me,  
Can you my darling,  
Can you picture this?

Dream if you can a courtyard,  
An ocean of violets in bloo…."

"Stop, stop, stop," Mr Schue called, stopping Finn from singing any more, the band stopped playing too. "Finn, it just sounds wrong, I'm sorry, we need to rethink this," he sighed, using his hand to try to rub a headache away from his forehead, his face tight with the strength of the pain. "Ok, how about we try this. Puck, I want you to give it a go, give us the first two verses, let's see how that works," he said, pointing to him near the back of the stage, motioning for him to come forwards.

"Mr Schue, I must protest," Rachel cried. "Finn is the male lead in this group, yet you keep sidelining him, over and over again. It's not fair," she said, her hands on her hips, almost stamping her foot, just verging on a temper tantrum, sure that her complaint would be heard, acknowledged and acted upon.

"What's not fair, Rachel," Mr Schue answered, "is Finn's half-assed efforts because he's uncomfortable at performing the dance routines. This is _show_ choir, not 'singing in the bathroom' choir. Full package. All of it. Puck can do it all," he informed her crossly. "Plus if we go with the costumes we were discussing yesterday, to be fair, Puck can pull that off a damn sight better too. Sorry Finn," he added, belatedly realising how much of an insult to Finn that all sounded. Rachel stood in silence, in shock, mouth agape.

"Crap," Puck muttered walking to the edge of the stage towards Quinn.

"What's up with you?" Quinn asked quietly out of the side of her mouth.

"You weren't here yesterday when Mr Schue showed us the costume ideas," Puck said, more than a touch embarrassed.

"Mr Schue?" Quinn called, raising her hand. "What's the idea for the costume?" she asked. "Puck never mentioned that when he got home yesterday," she added, giving Puck a narrow eyed stare. Quinn had missed school yesterday to attend an appointment and undergo minor surgery.

"Well, the shirts for the guys are black, but they're….well, they're transparent, a little more risqué than we're used to," Mr Schue said with the hint of a tired smile.

"Why?" Quinn asked, the question that they all wanted answered but hadn't dared ask.

"Well, erm," Mr Schue began, then stopped and bit his lip, sighing heavily before he began again. "The judges," he admitted, rubbing his face tiredly. "The directive from the judging panel is 'be daring'."

"And you think see through shirts for the guys is being daring?" Quinn asked, her face showing exactly how 'un-daring' she thought that was.

Mr Schue shrugged, looking and feeling more than a little uncomfortable, wishing he had a better idea. But he just hadn't been able to come up with anything else.

"I have an idea for our second number," Quinn cried, suddenly excitedly. "I was watching TV yesterday, flicking through channels and I came across this group of women who do burlesque on chairs. For fitness," she added, still wondering why, after twenty four hours of puzzling about it. "Anyway, we could do a girls number, dancing on chairs, dressed in burlesque costumes," Quinn grinned, looking round at the girls for approval.

"Woah, woah, woah, back up. Exactly how burlesque are we talking here?" Puck demanded, his arms folded across his chest, one eyebrow up, his face quite set. "'Cos I am not down with you flaunting everything for the world to see," he told Quinn, and he didn't care if she did argue with that. He didn't want everybody and their grandmother gawping at her again. Especially if she had very little clothing on. They'd had enough of that before with the stunt that Karofsky had pulled. "You know just about every performance from the competition ends up on You Tube, don't you?" he asked, Quinn nodded, still smiling.

"I don't care," Quinn shrugged, her face wreathed in smiles. "I'm thinking maybe a basque, shorts, like tiny, tight black satin shorts, little frilly skirt," she explained to the girls, sliding her hands down the front of her body as she wiggled a little, nodding more and more as they seemed to go along with her. "Black hose, high, high heels," she added with a grin, seeing Puck's interest registering on his face. "And I've got two songs in mind, we could do either of them," Quinn grinned, feeling the excitement building in her. She hadn't felt this involved in something for ages.

"So what are the songs, Quinn?" Mr Schue asked, not yet ready to reject the idea, despite Rachel tutting loudly and almost choking on her own breath.

"We could do either Leave Your Hat On or Lady Marmalade," Quinn said, nodding firmly, her hand grazing Puck's stomach making him groan quietly in front of her, his muscles clenching just a little at the touch.

"Actually," Mercedes began, "I really like the idea of Lady Marmalade, like they did it a few years ago, Pink, Lil' Kim, Christina, Mya, Missy Elliot," she listed.

Santana agreed too, nodding her head and licking her lips. She could see so much potential here. Potential to cause a little jealousy within the ranks, potential to thrust the cat among the pigeons. Things had been just a little too settled recently. And settled in Santana's world equalled boring. "I agree with Aretha," she said, ignoring Mercedes' correction of her name.

"Well I personally would rather not be involved in it," Rachel pouted, crossing her arms and turning away from the group. Surely Mr Schue would not got along with this ridiculousness. Surely he would come to his senses once his headache was gone. Surely.

"That's cool," Santana said with an incredibly bored voice. "There's only five parts in it anyway," she told Rachel, holding her hands out to her sides indicating the girls who were interested.

"That's a fantastic idea," Mr Schue enthused, blasting Rachel's hope for him to come to his senses right out of the water. "Definitely daring," he grinned. "Ok, final song selection and we need something amazing," he reminded them, his headache clearing just a little.

"We'll think about it," Mercedes assured their teacher. "Girls? Can we get together tonight to rehearse?" she asked.

"Sure," Quinn replied. "We'll have to do it at our house, Miriam asked me to watch Leah this afternoon after school, she's…..she's got plans," she finished lamely, remembering that the wedding was still a secret for the time being.

"What about your arm?" Tina asked. "Will it be healed in time for the competition?" she asked, nodding towards the fresh incision on the inside of Quinn's upper arm.

Quinn glanced down. "Yes, it should be," she answered. "And if it isn't I'll use a garter or some lace or something round it to hide it," she grinned.

"What did you do anyway?" Tina asked. "What happened, did you cut yourself?" she enquired, a little worried about Quinn's state of mind, if she'd taken to hurting herself.

"No," Quinn laughed, leaning forwards a touch. "I didn't do anything to myself, it's the contraceptive implant," she explained.

"Oh my God," Rachel breathed, sounding shocked. "Quinn Fabray actually using the 'c' word," she almost teased, memories of Quinn's disgust at the mere mention of contraception the only time Rachel ever visited the celibacy club jumping to the front of her brain.

"You live and learn Rachel," Quinn replied, not hurt or upset by the reminder, "live and learn," she repeated, giving Puck a secret smile.

"And you're in agreement with this?" Rachel demanded of Puck. "Quinn taking responsibility for your contraception?" she asked, more than a little crossly, although she wasn't exactly sure why.

"Of course I'm in agreement," Puck answered, his face showing his confusion at Rachel even asking. "Why wouldn't I be? What the hell has it got to do with you anyway?" he asked. "And the implant is a great option for us. It's a damn sight better than running out of condoms in the middle of the night," he grinned, reminding Quinn of their ruined weekend. "It's a total ball ache when you're searching through a drawer and coming up empty, trust me, I know this for a fact," he added. "Plus my dad can't 'borrow' that and leave us without," he murmured almost silently to her.

"Absolutely," Quinn muttered, blushing, feeling all eyes on her and getting more than a little embarrassed. "What?" she demanded as Santana snorted something too quietly for her to hear, something like 'you actually know what contraception is?'.

"Nothing," Santana replied, just a tiny touch of jealousy smacking her right between the eyes. "What the hell is wrong with me?" she asked herself. "I _know_ they're together, I know they live together, sleep together. Santana, get your head out of your ass, he's never going to be yours again. Stop dreaming," she told herself then looked around, wondering if she'd said it aloud. Obviously not, no one was looking at her curiously. Well, no one except Sam. "Hmm, Mr Blond Muscles, Mr White Chocolate, I could go for some of that. I'd love to sink my teeth into something that sweet. For a while anyway, until diabetes sets in," she told herself, giving Sam a 'come on' wink, looking him up and down. Sam responded with a slight smirk. "Oh yeah, he's interested."

Puck caught up with Quinn as they left the auditorium. "Nearly told everybody my mom and dad's plans there, Q," he whispered, pulling her to his side and sliding his arm around her shoulders, Quinn apologised for her almost slip. "Think we can maybe have a dress rehearsal or two at home once you have your costume figured?" he added with a huge grin. "Just to make sure I approve of your outfit," he whispered.

"I'm pretty sure I'll need help sourcing all of the items we require," Quinn whispered, her smile shining in her eyes, her lip getting caught between her teeth as her arm wrapped around Puck's waist. "You could probably help with that, maybe do a few sketches of what would work best," she grinned, leaning her head back against his upper arm.

"Only if you model for me," Puck whispered back, bending to kiss her lips. "Class," he sighed, his hand dropping to swat her ass as he left her at her classroom before proceeding towards his own class with Sam and Finn. "Sorry about what Mr Schue said," Puck said quietly to Finn, realising that his friend's fragile ego had taken quite a few hits lately and no teenager needed that.

"It's cool," Finn shrugged, trying to smile as though he didn't care. He did, he cared all too much but hey, he was never going to have a body to rival Puck's, Mike's or Sam's, not without a hell of a lot of hard work and three weeks just wasn't going to be enough time. "And he's right," he admitted sadly.

"Are you sure you can handle seeing Quinn in a skimpy outfit in front of everyone?" Sam asked, remembering how possessive of Quinn Puck had been at the start of the year, remembering 'photo-gate'.

"As long as it doesn't involve any touching by anyone else, I can handle it," Puck lied. "Oh God, will I be able to handle it?" he asked himself. "Everyone better look at the ground and not at her," he growled silently, realising how much of an ass he sounded, even to himself. Finn, Sam and Mike all gave Puck 'the look', the 'yeah, right, whatever' look. "I can," Puck insisted, a hint of a smile on his face. "Maybe," he added, hanging his head. "Possibly," he pouted. "Probably not," he sighed. "We'll have to have a few dress rehearsals at home first before I can deal with her being dressed like that in front of everyone," he admitted. "What about you and Tina?" he demanded of Mike.

"Like I'd ever give Tina any grief over what she chooses to wear," Mike scoffed. "Do you see what she comes to school dressed in some days?" he asked.

"Not really, I don't take much notice," Puck replied, shrugging.

"Well, you're lucky that Quinn is a Cheerio and has the uniform," Mike nodded. "If she dressed anything like Tina you'd be beating them off with a stick every five minutes," he advised.

After school Puck drove Quinn home, calling in for a snack and to see Beth before going in to work for a couple of hours.

"Dad," Puck called as he knocked at Ethan's office door. "Have you got a minute?" he asked.

"Come in," Ethan called, a smile in his voice. He loved having his family back, realised what he'd lost when he was an idiot and screwed up royally and he never wanted to lose it again. "What's with the face?" he asked as Puck slumped down in one of the seats in front of his dad's infamous desk.

Puck sighed and let his head fall back. "Glee," he sighed even heavier. "We've made a few decisions about songs for Sectionals," he said with a frown. "Quinn came up with an idea so now the girls are doing a chair burlesque routine," he added, his frown deepening.

"Ok," Ethan nodded, frowning himself, wondering where this conversation was going.

"And I'm not sure if I can deal with Quinn being nearly naked on stage," Puck admitted, his eyes flicking wide for a split second.

"Have you told her that?" Ethan asked, knowing the answer would be no.

"No," Puck replied in disgust. "If I told her _that_, she'd want to wear even less," he grumbled, his arms crossing over his chest. "She always says she's master of her own body, her choice, but I'm just not down with it," he sighed, thrusting his fingers into the top of his mohawk. "Mr Schue wants us guys in some stupid black see through shirts too," he added with the hint of a blush, rolling his eyes and sighing again. "That'll look really cool. Not," he snorted. "I'm not covering up my tattoos or taking my nip rings out," he stated mutinously before the question was even asked. "If they want badass, they'll get badass, Puckerman style," he insisted.

"When did you get your nipples pierced?" Ethan asked in surprise, he hadn't noticed them at the weekend when Noah had taken his shirt off in the kitchen.

"Monday," Puck admitted, "and no, mom doesn't know yet," he grinned. "You're not going to tell her, are you?" he asked, immediately wary, the smile disappearing from his face suddenly.

"I won't tell, but you know she'll find out," Ethan laughed. "She always finds out when you've done something," he reminded his son. "Don't they need looking after when you first get them done, like you have to with a tattoo?" he asked.

"Yeah, but the tea tree oil and stuff to use on them is the same that Quinn has for her arm," Puck grinned, flicking his eyebrows up and then down. "Not so dumb after all, huh?" he asked.

"Shoving chunks of metal through holes you created in various parts of your body for no apparent reason, hmm, let me think about that one," Ethan said, nodding as though considering it. "Yeah, right, dumbass. Whatever possessed you to do that? Tattoos I get, but that? No, don't get it. It's got to hurt, right?" he demanded, intrigued, if he was honest. "Show me," he nodded towards Puck's chest.

"What? Here?" Puck asked, a little embarrassed. Ethan nodded. "Fine," he sighed, lifting his shirt to show off his latest body art. "Cool, right?" he asked, looking down with a smile.

"Yeah," Ethan agreed. "Till Beth pulls one and it hurts like hell," he laughed.

"Tell me about it," Puck laughed. "She caught one yesterday when I picked her up to carry her to bed and yeah, it killed like a mother," he said with a wince.

"And you seriously think you're going to be able to keep this from your mom?" Ethan asked with a shake of his head. "You poor deluded boy," he sighed. "And I'd put money on her actually killing you," he added with a grin.

"Quinn said something like that too," Puck replied with a matching grin. "Ok, so what are we working on today?" he enquired, getting up from the seat. "Did that guy from Chicago get back to you with his requirements?" he asked.

"Yep he did," Ethan answered, leaning back in his huge leather chair. "I forwarded the info to your email. Check the dimensions and have at it," he offered, giving Puck a chance to let his imagination loose. "He's looked through your portfolio and chosen you to be the designer, he called me a liar when I told him you're only seventeen by the way," he said with a smile. "Until I told him you're my son. He's likes the fresh way you look at stuff, his words not mine," Ethan added, pride in his son showing in his eyes.

"Ok, cool. I've got some ideas already, I'll sketch a few and see which way he wants to go before I do a proper work up," Puck replied, pride in hearing his dad's words glowing within himself.

When they finally came home for dinner, Quinn had been busy. She'd not only made their evening meal, she had also done her homework and begun looking online for the burlesque costumes.

"Holy crap," Puck whispered, his eyes wide, scandalised. "No way are you wearing _that_ on stage," he insisted, hardly able to believe that Quinn would even want to, never mind be comfortable enough to.

"Mhm," Quinn nodded, smiling as she set plates of steaming hot food in front of them all. "Could you help Beth please?" she asked Puck politely, passing by him to take away her laptop, hoping to stop him freaking out any more than he already had.

"Miriam not back yet?" Ethan asked.

"No, but she rang about twenty minutes ago," Quinn informed him. Miriam and Freda had gone shopping, hunting for the perfect 'second time around' wedding dress. "She sounded quite pleased with herself," she said with a smile. Actually, Miriam had sounded more than pleased with herself. She'd told Quinn that she'd found the dress and the bridesmaids dresses, she just needed to go back with Quinn, Leah and Beth for them all to be fitted. Quinn hadn't realised before then that she'd been expected to be part of the wedding. And she was thrilled about it.

"Are the girls coming over tonight?" Puck asked, feeding Beth, his mouth moving with Beth's as she sucked the mashed up vegetables off her little spoon.

"No, we're going to rehearse at lunchtime tomorrow in the auditorium," Quinn replied. "Closed rehearsal," she added when she saw the eyebrow go up and the smirk on Puck's face appear.

While Puck did his homework, Quinn did a little more research on the internet. "This," she announced decisively. "This is it, and to stop you freaking out it has a longer skirt," she told Puck, rolling her eyes at him. "Look," she ordered, holding her laptop up for him to see the image. "I know it's shorter in the front but it's only as short as my Cheerios uniform, it just looks a hell of a lot sexier," she grinned. "It'd be really cool doing the dance routine with you guys for When Doves Cry, don't you think?" she asked Puck, her arm stealing round his neck, pouting at him, looking up through her lashes at him, pressing against him.

"You're using all your tricks in one go here," Puck told Quinn, hiding the hint of laughter in his voice though not in his eyes. "You're going to have to come up with something way better than that," he advised her, his hands settling on her waist.

"Better than what?" she pouted, pretending that she had no idea what he was talking about, brushing against him even more.

"That'll work," Puck nodded, his half smile reflected in Quinn's own. Puck sighed. "You know why I'm concerned about this though, don't you?" he asked her quietly, sitting on the edge of the bed with Quinn stood in front of him, between his thighs, her hands on his shoulders while his rested on her hips. "I just don't want anyone to take this, take it out of context and use it against you like Karofsky did, you know?" he said, his voice soft yet urgent. "I don't want you to get hurt, not again, I don't want anything to hurt you ever again," he said, pulling her close as he lay back on their bed. Quinn totally got his point of view. She respected it but she was still willing to go ahead with the costume.

"That," Puck said, his voice harsh with his rapid breathing, "was so much better," he grinned, happy that he didn't have to move yet, pull away from her to dispose of anything. "I love doing this with you," he whispered before his lips sought her pulse in her throat and attached there. Quinn didn't have enough breath left to reply.

Lunchtime found the doors to the auditorium locked. "Shit," Puck grumbled with more than a hint of a pout. "They really locked us out," he told the other guys who were, like him, wanting to go in and see the first incarnation of the Lady Marmalade routine. "I thought Quinn was joking about that," he muttered to himself.

"That's so not fair," Sam whispered. He'd been looking forward to seeing what Santana was willing to do, all in the name of competition of course. He'd caught her interested glance yesterday and to be honest, he was more than a little interested himself. Very interested actually.

I'm not sure if I'm relieved or not," Mike added, wondering what Tina would do, knowing that she was far more adventurous than any of their team mates were aware of.

"There's always the back way in," Finn reminded them all. As a group they turned and looked at Finn. "The emergency exit?" he asked, wondering why they hadn't already thought of that. "It has a hidden handle to make it a two way door in case of emergency, you just have to know where to look," he said with a wink.

"Why are we still here?" Puck asked, pushing through the group to go round to the back of the auditorium. "Show us, oh wise one," he commanded Finn as they arrived at the emergency exit door.

The door was one of the types that had a bar on the inside to open it but nothing from the outside. Unless you knew where to look. "Here you go," Finn grinned, opening the door very quietly.

The male contingent of New Directions, minus Kurt, tiptoed very quietly through the backdrops and scenery stored at the rear of the stage. They could hear the music, the instrumental version of the song and they could hear the girls, singing parts, stopping and talking in parts, discussing ideas, changing choreography that they must have decided on previously.

"Quinn, if you take this part, crouch down with your hands on the seat and do the leg thing," Santana instructed. "Yeah, that's it, perfect. God if the guys could see this, Puck would weep," she said, laughter in her voice. Puck gulped out of sight, his imagination working overtime. "Brilliant idea this one, Q, who knew you could be so slutty?" Santana praised.

"Tina, the boobs, do the boob thing," Mercedes called. "Brittany, we aren't going naked, you don't need to take your uniform off. Please, just put it back on," she added, sounding just a touch fed up. Artie almost fell out of his chair. Mike wasn't even remotely surprised about the boob thing.

"What the hell are they doing?" Puck hissed. "I have got to get out there to see this," he insisted, sneaking round very quietly until he was hidden in the darkness, off stage but with a decent view.

"Ok, let's put it together, hit the music Mercedes," Santana called.

The guys watched in silence, mostly without blinking, barely breathing. As each of the girls came forward for their part, there seemed to be a lot of gulps coming from the gathered group of teenage boys. As Quinn stepped up to do her part, obviously the 'leg thing', Puck couldn't take it any longer.

Puck stepped out of the shadows into view of the girls on stage. "Shit Q," he grinned, clapping as he went, "you can practice that move at home anytime you want," he told her, seeing her stand slowly, crossing her arms, tapping her foot, the expression on her face showing exactly how pissed off with Puck she was.

"Spying on us, Puckerman?" Quinn asked, totally unnecessarily, since Puck revealing himself told them all that he was doing just exactly that.

"Oh yeah," Puck readily admitted as he came to stand directly in front of her, looking up at her. "Got to see what my girl gets up to behind closed doors with four other chicks," he added, full of innuendo.

"S'up?" Quinn asked, her hands landing on her hips, leaning forwards just a touch. "Don't you trust me?" she asked, diva attitude coming to the fore.

"I trust you," Puck grinned, "never a doubt there," he told Quinn honestly. "I just wanted to see what you're going to do to win Sectionals for us," he added, heaping on the praise. From the tiny bit of the rough rehearsal he'd seen, the routine definitely qualified as 'daring'. God she looked good up there. She'd look even better in the costume she'd found online yesterday. "Did you show the others the costume you found?" he asked, looking at the other girls who all nodded. "You're all going to be amazing at this. You got this one," he smirked, applauding them all. "And now I'm going to go before you kick my ass for coming in here," he finished, turning away.

"Wait a minute," Quinn called to Puck's back. "We locked the door, how did you get in?" she demanded.

"Babe, I can get where water can't," Puck grinned over his shoulder at her, "I have skills, you know that," he reminded her with a cheesy wink and sauntered away.

"Nice save there, dude," Finn said almost silently as the rest of the guys headed very, very quietly back the way they came. "But hell, they really do make that look good," he whispered, nodding, wishing Rachel had been brave enough to be a part of it.

"They're going to be freakin' amazing," Puck whispered back, making sure he slammed the door loud enough for the girls to hear. "I'm still not sure about the shirts for us though," he grumbled. "I mean, we're going to look like a bunch of dorks from Dancing With the Stars or something," he finished, his lip curled up in disgust.

"Some of us will look better than others," Finn reminded him, a little sadly. "I mean, there's you, Mike and Sam, muscles on top of muscles, six packs, pecs and everything," he sighed. "Then there's me, milky white body, no muscles to speak of, just your average teenager."

"I guess it must be so hard for you," Artie sniped at Finn more than a little sarcastically.

"And then there's Puck who has the added advantage of his badass tats," Mike reminded them, wishing he was brave enough to defy his parents and have a tattoo done too.

"And a little something more too," Puck smirked, "but you're all too chicken to put yourselves through the pain," he told them, lifting his shirt to show off his nipple rings. They caused quite a few sucked in breaths, a couple of winces and one or two little mumbles of 'ouch'. "Yeah," Puck grinned, dropping his shirt, "totally badass," he said with a wink then walked away to get some lunch.


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: No claim to ownership at all.**

**A/N: Sometimes some people get to know a little more than they should. And sometimes that person is your mother and that can lead to a whole heap of trouble...***

"Mr Schue?" Finn called nervously, his hand raised just above his shoulder, looking hesitant.

"Yes Finn?" Mr Schue replied, turning away from the whiteboard.

"What about Single Ladies for the final number?" Finn asked. "You know, like if the girls sing it and the guys dance it or something, maybe?" he trailed off, feeling a little embarrassed, realising his idea was a bit odd.

"I was thinking Forget You," Tina said, even less confidently.

"I was thinking maybe Hips Don't Lie," Santana added, wondering if she should have kept her mouth shut.

"Oh, hey," Mr Schue nodded, starting to grin just a little. "That's it, that's the one. Good going Santana," he nodded even more, his expression approving. He wrote it on the board. "Alright. Here's our three numbers," he turned back and looked at the group. "When Doves Cry, Puck. Lady Marmalade, Santana, Mercedes, Tina, Brittany and Quinn. Hips Don't Lie. I want try outs for this one," he called, beaming now at his students. "Go away, practice then come back tomorrow and wow me," he said as the bell went.

Mercedes caught up with Quinn at the door. "Are you going to give it a go?" she asked Quinn.

"No," Quinn shook her head, her high pony swishing round her head. "We have to see Dr Parkinson this afternoon," she confided to Mercedes, the niggle of fear making her voice wobble just a touch.

"Who's Dr Parkinson?" Mercedes asked quietly. She thought she might have heard Quinn mention the name before, but she wasn't sure.

"She's the endocrinologist," Quinn replied.

"And she looks after your endos?" Mercedes asked, not knowing what an endocrinologist actually specialised in.

"Genetics," Quinn answered, smiling. "We've had tests done on both of us and on Beth to find out if her hearing loss is something that may be likely in any other children we have," she explained. "Not that we're even considering any future children," she hurriedly added, waving her hands back and forth across herself. "Not for like twenty years or something," she laughed, with a mocking roll of her eyes.

"Speak for yourself," Puck said, unashamedly interrupting Quinn and Mercedes' conversation by sneaking up behind Quinn and hugging her into his chest, walking with her tight up in front of him. "I plan on getting you pregnant again way sooner than that," he murmured into her ear, his hands resting on her stomach, still holding her close. "Or at least practicing a whole hell of a lot," he added with a grin.

Quinn's hands went backwards, catching Puck's butt, her head back on his shoulder. "If I'm not touching thirty next time, Puckerman," she told him with a matching grin on her face, "your mom is going to kill you," she reminded him. "She keeps telling you that," she added, shifting to see his face out of the corner of her eye.

"I can handle my mom," Puck lied, a big smile on his face.

"Yeah, sure you can," Quinn laughed, turning in his arms and walking backwards. "When you finally figure out how to do that, send me an invite, I love fire works," she sniggered, pressing a kiss to his jaw before waltzing out of his arms and heading for her next class.

"Don't forget we have that appointment after school," Puck called after her, waving a hand at her just before she turned the corner. Quinn waved back, acknowledging she'd heard him.

"The test results are conclusive," Dr Parkinson told Puck and Quinn as they sat in front of her desk hand in hand, both slightly nervous. "You both carry a mutated gene," she said, reading from the pages on her desk. "If you were to inherit the gene from just one parent, you're unlikely to have any form of deafness. If you were to inherit the gene from both parents, you are very unlikely to have any hearing," she finished, watching the young couple in front of her.

"So does that mean if we have anymore kids they'll probably be deaf too?" Quinn asked, her voice a quivering whisper.

"It is highly likely that any future children you have together would be affected by the same condition as Beth, yes," Dr Parkinson nodded, her hands folded on her desk. "Is there anyone you'd like to speak to? One of our counselors maybe?" she asked, aware that many people, when faced with the knowledge that it wasn't 'just one of those things' that caused a problem for their child, blamed themselves and each other.

"How do we both have the same gene and yet not be affected?" Puck asked, fairly sure he didn't understand a word of what had just been said.

"You're both carriers of the mutated gene," Dr Parkinson explained. "That means, in simple terms, that you both inherited the mutated gene from one of your parents. Beth has inherited the gene from _both_ of you which is why her inner ear didn't develop properly during the pregnancy. The only way Beth will ever have any type of hearing is by using hearing aids or by cochlear implant. I'm sorry I can't give you better news," she added a touch sadly.

"Thank you, Dr Parkinson, you've been," Quinn said, her voice sounding strange to her own ears, "very helpful. Thank you," she finished, after she'd managed to swallow the tears that had tried to choke her. Quinn stood and held out a hand to shake Dr Parkinson's, years of Fabray politeness training taking over instinctively. Puck did the same, following Quinn's lead.

In the parking lot they sat in the car without speaking, for endless silent moments. "She has to have the surgery," Quinn finally whispered. "I can't believe I was being so stupid about it," she said, laughing at herself, not a pleasant laugh. "I think, in the back of my mind, I thought they were going to tell us something different, that it could be fixed with an injection and she'd be ok, I don't know what I thought," she admitted, her head falling to her hands. "Oh God, what an idiot," she breathed sitting back up. "It's all our fault," she suddenly realised. "It is, it's our fault, both of us, we're mutants, that's why Beth is deaf, we should never have any more kids. Ever," she added, turning to look out of the passenger window.

"That's not what Dr Parkinson said," Puck replied quietly, going over the consultation in his mind in minute detail. "She said we both carry a mutated gene, it happens," he shrugged, "millions of people have mutated genes, what do you think causes red hair?" he asked, only semi joking. "She told us about CVS testing," he reminded Quinn. "She said we'd be offered CVS in any future pregnancy as a matter of routine because of the gene."

"Do you know what they do, how they actually do a CVS test?" Quinn turned slowly in her seat to ask. "They'd stick a needle through my stomach to take a sample from the placenta," she explained, nodding as Puck winced. "Yeah, that's what I thought," she told him. "Plus, what would we do with the information anyway?" she demanded.

"Yeah," Puck sighed, pulling her towards him, hugging her head under his chin. "It's not like we'd ever change things, is it?" he replied, staring narrowly towards a group of skateboarding youths who were hanging round the lot, causing a nuisance. "Come on, let's go home," he said, kissing the top of Quinn's head then straightening up in his seat.

Puck slumped in front of the TV. He'd read and read and read through the information that Dr Parkinson had sent them away with. He'd only briefly heard about his great aunt who was born deaf. If his great grandparents had the same mutated genes, how had they given birth to two hearing children and only one deaf child? The gene had obviously been passed through the generations, but the only one to have been affected by the gene in three generations was Beth.

"My head's spinning," Puck sighed to Quinn. "Is there anyone in your family at all that you know of?" he asked.

"No one I can think of. My dad couldn't think of anyone in his family either. He doesn't want to ask my mom in case she asks why he wants to know," Quinn replied, leafing through the pages of the report.

"Dad," Puck called, standing up. "Was there just the three of them? Grandpa, Aunt Eva and their sister, Riva?" he asked as Ethan came into the living room carrying Beth.

"I think so, I never heard about any other brothers or sisters," Ethan replied, pulling faces at Beth to make her chuckle. "Call Aunt Eva, she'll know for sure," he advised.

"Do you think we should worry?" Ethan asked Miriam quietly when he returned to the kitchen a few minutes later. Miriam looked at him, just a little bit puzzled. "Those two, doing all this family research," he explained. "They're not trying to tell us something, are they?" he added, looking even more worried.

"No," Miriam answered with a smile. "Quinn said when they came home that Dr Parkinson told them if they ever do have any more children, they'd probably be affected by the same condition as Beth, I think Noah's trying to work out if Beth has the same condition as Riva had, I think they just both feel responsible, like they caused this, rather than it being something out of the blue," she said, wondering now if she'd picked it up right.

"So long as we don't get told in the next couple of weeks that we're going to be grandparents again," Ethan muttered, bending to kiss Miriam behind her ear. "Do we tell them tonight?" he asked quietly.

Miriam turned slowly away from the stove, nodding. "I think we probably should," she smiled, her lip between her teeth. "I'm not sure we can keep it a secret much longer anyway," she admitted, stretching up to meet Ethan's lips.

"Aunt Eva says there was just the three of them," Puck announced, looking down at the buttons on the phone as he walked into the kitchen. He looked up to find his mom and dad springing apart looking very, very guilty. "What are you teaching my daughter in here?" he asked, one eyebrow raised, keeping the smile hidden.

"Nothing," Ethan denied quickly. "We were just watching Nana cooking, weren't we, sweetie?" he asked Beth.

"That didn't look like cooking to me," Puck replied, crossing his arms over his chest. "Is there something you want to tell me?" he asked, almost frowning at his parents, making them feel like they were the children.

"Not right at this moment," Ethan answered, a huge smile breaking out on his face. "Is there anything you'd like to tell your mother?" he countered, his eyes flicking to Puck's chest.

Puck narrowed his gaze at his dad, his mouth set. "Touché dad," he thought to himself. "Nothing at all," he replied, turning to leave the kitchen.

"I already know," Miriam called over her shoulder.

"Already know what?" Puck asked with a gulp, stopping in his tracks turning back to face his mom very, very slowly.

Miriam turned fully, one hand on her hip, one hand on the counter beside the stove. She gave Puck her patented 'moms know absolutely everything' look. "Noah Elijah Puckerman. The day you can get one over on me is the day the world stops turning," Miriam announced. "And seriously? Piercings? Don't come crying to me if they get infected," she told him, turning back to the stove.

Puck looked in amazement at his dad, he held his hands out, shook his head, his mouth opened and closed several times before he could speak. "How does she do that?" Puck asked his dad. "What? Do you come into our room at night and check me over for any changes?" he demanded. "Who told you?" he asked, still looking surprised.

"That will have been me," Quinn owned up, behind Puck in the doorway. "I couldn't believe you'd do something so stupid, they're worse than a tattoo, so yeah, it was me, I told on you," she told him, sounding crosser and crosser. "Deal with it," she added.

"It's a motherhood conspiracy," Puck whispered, looking up at the ceiling. "Seriously, they all stick together," he informed Ethan. "No matter what it is, they all stick together," he said, more to himself than to anyone in the room. "So suddenly you tell my mother everything?" he demanded of Quinn. "Did you tell her that we stopped using condoms too?" he asked, knowing that Miriam would take a different view on that.

"You stopped _what_?" Ethan shouted, almost dropping Beth. "What did I tell you? What did I just say?" he demanded, glaring at Miriam.

"Don't panic," Miriam smiled. "And yes, Quinn told me about that too," she nodded. "They're using something else now, they're safe," she informed Ethan. "Breathe, deep breath. Breathe," she encouraged when it looked like Ethan was about to pass out in shock.

"You really tell her everything?" Puck asked Quinn.

"Of course," Quinn shrugged, "who else am I going to talk to about stuff? None of the kids at school can help, I can't talk to my own mother. I like talking to your mom," she admitted.

"Like what sort of things have you been telling her?" Puck asked, getting a little more nervous.

"I know where you keep your stash of designs," Miriam said, using her fingers to start a list. "I know that you drew a design on Quinn in marker pens and it took days to wash off, I know…." she drew it out, thinking of some of the other stuff that Quinn had confided in her, wondering how in depth she should go.

Quinn whispered something in Puck's ear. His chin hit his chest and his eyes popped out on stalks, his eyebrows touching his mohawk. "You told her _that_?" he cried. "Jeez, why not just invite everyone in to freakin' watch," he shouted. "Who needs a private life when you can tell my mother everything," he snarled, rushing past Quinn to run upstairs.

"I think he's a bit upset," Ethan commented, stating the obvious. "Should I go talk to him, do you think?" he asked.

"No," Quinn replied. "I think I should. And apologise," she added, her nose wrinkled up, a frown on her face. She felt guilty, really, really guilty. And rightly so. She perhaps shouldn't have told Miriam as much as she had.

Quinn knocked quietly on the bedroom door. She opened it to find Puck laying on their bed on his back, his arms crossed under his head. "Can I come in?" she asked softly, already stepping through the door and closing it behind her.

"What? You're on your own?" Puck asked sarcastically. "Gonna take notes? Make a report to share with my mother later?" he asked snidely.

"I'm sorry," Quinn said very, very quietly, sitting on the edge of the bed near his hip, facing him. "I shouldn't have told your mom that stuff, I shouldn't have confided in her," she admitted, feeling even more ashamed of herself when Puck replied.

"You think?" he demanded, his head rising up just a touch.

"Look, I don't know what's normal and what isn't," Quinn tried to explain. "I can't ask most of the girls at school, they probably wouldn't know either. I'm not asking Santana," she added with vehemence. No way would she ask Santana. "I didn't know that every guy likes to measure his….his…well, you know," she stalled, nodding towards the body part she meant. "At least, not _that_ often," she muttered under her breath. "And the shaving thing," she added, sounding a little more upset. "I mean, I like to be neat but the patterns that you do are well, I didn't know if that was normal," she cried. "Look, I'm really, really sorry, ok?" she sobbed, falling onto his chest in tears.

Puck winced as Quinn's head crashed into one of his new piercings. Automatically his arms went round her, holding her close, his lips in her hair. "Shhhh," he comforted, resigned to the fact that his mom and now probably his dad had a full and intimate knowledge of what went on in his bedroom between him and Quinn. And yes, he was absolutely totally embarrassed. Mortified beyond belief. "Just please, don't do it again," he pleaded. "If you want to ask something, can you check it out with me first? See if it's ok to ask my mom? I'd rather she didn't know everything that goes on in here," he said, glancing round the room. "You didn't tell her about…" Puck whispered things into Quinn's ear.

"No, I didn't tell her that," Quinn replied with a little laugh. "Or that. No, that's still a secret too. Nope, no. No, no, none of that, I didn't tell her any of that," she answered, for all the things he whispered. Quinn's head lifted a little. "I really am sorry," she whispered, leaning forwards a little to lock her lips with his. Puck demonstrated exactly why she shouldn't tell his mom everything.

"Dinner," Ethan called up the stairs.

"We should get dressed," Puck told Quinn, his hand still busy, stroking her keeping her body trembling.

"One more minute," Quinn whispered, turning slightly and rejoining their lips.

"Didn't you hear me shouting?" Ethan asked when he knocked on their door ten minutes later.

"Did you lock the door?" Puck whispered, looking down into Quinn's eyes. Slowly she shook her head, her bottom lip caught between her teeth. They both looked towards the door as the handle slowly twisted downwards. "Dad, wait, we heard you, we'll be there in a minute," Puck shouted back, his voice urgent, full of panic. He really, really didn't want his dad to walk in right now. "_Dad_," Puck all but screamed as the door edged open.

The urgency must have registered with Ethan because instead of opening further, the door suddenly slammed shut. "Sorry," Ethan's hesitant apology came through the wood. "God, I'm so sorry. Dinner's ready and….well, dinner's ready," he finished, blowing out a huge breath. "Should I tell your mom you'll be down in a minute or do you need longer?" he asked.

Puck glanced down, he shook his head very slightly, pushing up and off of Quinn. "We'll be right there," he answered his dad, sounding totally fed up.

Very quickly they both got dressed and went down to the kitchen. Beth was in her highchair, sat between Leah and an empty chair. Puck took the one to the side of Beth, Quinn sat at his other side. "Hi baby," Puck signed. "Ready for dinner?" he asked her silently. Beth patted her hands on the tray in front of her highchair.

Quinn watched the looks that were passing between Ethan and Miriam from her place sat opposite them. Puck was feeding Beth, Leah was in la la land as usual. Quinn could feel that something was in the air, she nudged Puck under the table.

"What?" he signed when he saw the surreptitious flick of her eyes towards his parents and her lips making a silent 'shh'.

"Something's happening," Quinn signed back. They both glanced over at his parents. They were oblivious to the conversation between Quinn and Puck, they hadn't learned enough sign yet to keep up with them. "I think they're going to tell us something," she signed. "I think I know what it is," she added with a further glance at Miriam.

"Tell me," Puck signed, rolling his eyes. He had to turn back to Beth to spoon more of her dinner into her waiting mouth.

"I think your mom is," Quinn signed then stopped as Ethan cleared his throat.

"Errm, we have something to tell you," Ethan said, looking a touch embarrassed.

"What's that?" Puck grumbled half-heartedly. "You going to share with mom that you nearly walked in on us?" he added under his breath.

"We have some news for you," Ethan began again. "I hope, we hope, you'll be happy about it," he added nervously.

Puck stopped what he was doing, the spoon half way to Beth's mouth. "Oh my God," he breathed then glanced at Quinn. At the same time they both signed the same word. "Can it please be a brother, I already have a little sister," Puck asked, grinning at his dad's shocked expression.

Leah's head shot up, staring at her parents. "You're going to have a new baby?" she demanded, her eyes open wide. "I won't be the littlest anymore?" she asked, a huge grin forming on her face. "Yes," she hissed, doing a fist pump in the air. "Oh yeah, Big Sister Leah, Big Sister Leah," she sang.

"And you're all ok about this?" Miriam asked, slightly unnerved by the total acceptance from both of her children. She wasn't sure how they were going to react when they found out that actually, that wasn't what they were going to tell them.

"It's cool," Puck nodded, smiling. "Where will it sleep?" he asked suddenly. The house was currently full, even the little study room had been converted into a nursery for Beth, it wasn't big enough to hold two babies.

"Well, we've been looking at a new house, six bedrooms all with their own bathrooms, music room, movie room, three living rooms, huge kitchen, it's enormous," Miriam enthused, hoping that Ethan would just go along with her on this, hoping that he wouldn't jump in and tell them that this was the news they'd been about to tell them. "We put in an offer," she admitted.

"Where is it?" Quinn asked, hardly able to swallow past the block in her throat.

"Dudley Road," Ethan replied, smiling happily. "It has a fabulous pool and there's even an…."

"An apartment over the garage," Quinn finished, swallowing hard, her eyes closed. "Mrs Schaeffer's house," she whispered, swallowing again. "Right across the street from my parents," she finished, turning to look sadly at Puck.

"Crap," Puck whispered back.

"Would it be that bad?" Miriam asked, reaching across the table to Quinn. "To live across the street from them?" she almost pleaded.

"I don't think I could," Quinn whispered, not able to find her voice. "I'm really happy for you, please, excuse me," she said with a sob as she stood and ran out of the kitchen.

The Puckermans all sat and looked at each other uncomfortably. A hundred different options flitted through Puck's brain, he dismissed every one of them as ridiculous. No, he and Quinn had to stay together, they couldn't live in separate houses, they couldn't lose what they had with each other, with Beth.

"Dad, could you feed Beth for me please?" Puck asked, standing to follow Quinn. Ethan nodded and moved round the table to help his granddaughter eat her dinner.

"I can't go there," Quinn cried into her pillow as Puck sat down beside her on the bed. "I'll have to, have to, I don't know, but I can't live across from her and neither can Beth," she said, she knew what she was talking about.

"I know it's what my dad's wanted for years, to move there," Puck replied, his hand stroking up and down Quinn's back. "But I get it, I don't particularly want to live across from her either. Maybe we can come up with something," he shrugged. Maybe they could rent an apartment somewhere, maybe near school or something.

Miriam was worrying in the kitchen. She'd thought that house would be the perfect choice. Noah, Quinn and Beth could have the two bed apartment over the garage, Leah could have her pick from the other bedrooms, Connie could make her choice too and they'd still have guest rooms. It could be perfect. But she didn't want to live across the street from Judy Fabray either. Crap.

"How about we withdraw the offer and keep looking?" Ethan offered. He didn't want the whole family to be upset or ripped apart, he wanted them all to be together, it had taken a long time for it all to be back to how it should have always been, he didn't want to lose it again.

"We still never actually told them," Miriam suddenly remembered. "They think I'm pregnant," she laughed.

"Well, we do keep trying," Ethan shrugged. "It might happen. I hope they won't be disappointed that it's just my mother moving in with us," he said with a smile. Connie had been really struggling since the death of her husband, she was fading away before their very eyes. It was time to do something about it, time to bring her back into the land of the living, and if that meant a bigger house then that's what they'd get. Just not across the street from Judy Fabray. "Here you go sweetie," Ethan murmured to Beth, giving her the last spoonful. "Was that good?" he asked with a huge grin, Beth grinned back, showing off her two teeth. "It was, wasn't it? That was good."

***I have taken liberties with the information about genetics, but seriously, it is far too involved to put into a few words in a fluff fiction such as this. I hope you can forgive me.**


End file.
